Neverwinter Nights Lord of The Rings
by Freedom Guard
Summary: The Knight Captain and his company try to escape the falling ruins of the lair of the King of Shadows, and in using a portal from the Tome to escape, land in a new world and into a new conflict that will change the world they land in.
1. Chapter 1

Lord of the Rings X Neverwinter Nights

Disclaimer: I don't own the Lord of the Rings movies and all connected with the series of books and films, neither do I own anything related to Neverwinter Nights.

Prologue

The Knight Captain on Weathertop

( ): Thoughts

--------

In the Realm of the King of Shadows…

CRACK!!!!

RUMBLE!!!!

BOOM!!!

"MOVE!!!!!"

"WE HAVE TO HURRY!!!! HAUL YOUR BUTTOCKS MOSS BREATH!!!"

"I'M MOVIN AS FAST AS I CAN HERE GOAT GIRL!!!!"

Darren Kell, former member of the West Harbour Militia, Weapon Master, Member of the Neverwinter Nine, and Knight Captain of Crossroad Keep looked back to see his two friends arguing behind him as well as Elanee, Sand, Casavir, Zhjaeve and Ammon Jerro were already moving as quickly as they could. He looked back and there was Elanee behind him, running as fast as she could, her Elven Ceremonial Armour protecting her well without weighing her down.

He hoped that they would soon find a way out of this death trap that was now falling down on top of them all, they had lost too many things and people dear to them to let themselves be buried here in this Undead ruin of the ancient Illefarn Empire that spawned the Guardian who through touching the corruption of the Dark Weave of Magic in the Realms had become the King of Shadows that threatened to destroy all life despite the twisted yet sound logic behind it's actions.

Their last ditch gamble worked and they had struck deep in the heart of the King of Shadows' empire and had finally slain the Shadow Reavers as well as the King of Shadows himself. However, they had to deal with other matters, Bishop who had betrayed them back in Crossroad Keep had sided with Black Garius along with Qara who thought they held her back from using her full power due to them being jealous, the Blade Golem nearly fell into Bishop's own use due to taking the control phrases from Grobnar before and even Neeshka had been possessed by a geas spell by Garius, thankfully they had won as Grobnar had a set of overrides and took control of the Golem and Neeshka had revolted and freed herself from the geas. They slew Garius and then the King of Shadow's avatars and finally the former Guardian of Illefarn itself using the Sword of Gith and the Ritual of Purification.

The mission was a success...but they never realized that the only power that held the ancient ruins in place was the power of the King of Shadows itself and soon the place began to fall apart right on top of them. This made them run to find a portal that would be able to lead them out of this now collapsing ruin before they were buried here forever, none of them were in the mood to wind up buried deeply in the very lair of their enemies and the foe that they all have shed their blood to defeat.

As they ran through the ruins to try and find a way out, they looked to see the very stones of this place beginning to rot and turn into sand and dust before their very eyes, showing them that the place was indeed falling apart. Casavir turned to the others as he and Zhjaeve were running ahead, as he spotted what appeared to be a room of some sort that seemed to be stable ahead of them.

"THERE IS A ROOM AHEAD OF US!!! WE MIGHT FIND SOME WAY OUT THROUGH THERE!!!!"

The others nodded and kept on going as best they could, but that was then they heard a cry.

"AAAAHHHHH!!!"

Darren turned and quickly saw Elanee with her right arm broken at the shoulder, judging by the way it moved, she had been hit by a chunk of rock from the sealing and yet another was about to hit her. He was quick to react as he turned around and rushed back to save her, he was not going to lose her to this nightmarish place, they had been through so much together that he would rather die with her than live without her by his side. He turned to the others and shouted his orders.

"KEEP RUNNING!!!!"

The others did as he asked as he turned back and quickly rushed to Elanee, they had already lost Shandra before and had lost both their allied Blade Golem and Grobnar who vainly tried to save it and was crushed as Ammon had told him as he looked for any sign of the bard, he was not going to lose Elanee to that very same fate no matter what happened next.

Darren managed to grab Elanee and pull her away from the falling chunk that nearly crushed her, the two lovers moved quickly as well to reach the others. The Wood Elf was in pain but tried to focus on getting away, the sight of his elven friend and lover in pain tore at the Knight Captain but he knew that they still had a chance that they could not afford to waste, there had to be a way out of this place....but since the ruins had been surrounded by the dark taint of the King of Shadows before his fall by their hands they had no idea if there was a way out from here, they could only hope that there was a path out of the crumbling fortress.

As soon as they turned to the spot where the others had been running to, they were able to reach the room and as soon as they were inside, he lay Elanee down gently as she moaned in pain, he then turned the Zhjaeve and the Githzerai cleric nodded as she could see that Elanee was in deep pain and needed healing.

"Know that I will tend to her wounds Kalach-Cha, but we must find an escape soon or it will be for nothing."

Ammon nodded.

"The Githzerai is right, but we have no idea where this fortress is or how far the exit from it might be."

Khelgar groaned at that.

"This is not going to be good...."

That was when Sand took out a scroll and began to chant a spell for a portal. Darren was surprised and wondered what Sand was up to until he spotted the scroll and found it to be containing a spell from the Tome of Iltkazar, apparently Sand had gotten the spell before giving the Tome to Aldanon. He had to give Sand credit for that and showed it as he spoke to Sand.

"You thought ahead yet again Sand."

Sand smiled a bit and replied.

"Yes, I usually do, though this might take a while to work on. This spell makes a portal to the other side, though I'm hoping it's a way out."

Ammon Jerro however replied.

"Do what you can Wizard and do it quickly, we may have stability here in this room now…but not for long."

Sand nodded as he tried his best to speak out the full translation of the words of the spell and soon a portal began to form, the effort took a great deal out of the Moon Elf Wizard but he knew that it was the only option that they all had, he could have taken a Golem form to escape with the others, but there was no telling what would happen to the others behind him, and with the place falling apart as it was, things were not looking good. As much as he valued his own life, he had developed a deep friendship with the Knight Captain and was not going to abandon him to this fate.

Elanee was able to finally get up and Darren was relieved as she spoke to him.

"Thank you....for coming back for me."

"I'll never leave you behind, you know that Elanee."

"I know..."

Sand then shouted.

"The portal is ready! Hurry!"

Casavir spoke seriously as he was worried about where the portal might lead..

"Do we have any idea where this might take us?"

Neeshka replied seriously.

"Anywhere is better than here you know!"

"I'm with Neeshka on this one!"

Khelgar replied at that as the dwarf monk took his first steps to the portal and that was enough for all of them as they all entered the portal knowing that they had little choice on the matter itself. As they stepped through it Elanee spoke to her beloved who she had watched since he was a young boy growing up to be the man before her.

"No matter what happens Darren I love you and if we are separated I want you to know that I will find you....no matter what, I will find you."

Darren smiled at that.

"I know."

The two finally stepped through the portal in time as the last remains of the Illefarn Empire fell behind them.

--------

Darren tried to look for the others in the swirling mass of light as he walked through the portal itself, but all he saw was a rainbow of colours and images, images that made no sense to him and there he heard the voice of an elven woman speaking about something of great importance.

"The world is changed...."

"I feel it in the Water."

"I feel it in the Earth."

"I smell it in the Air."

"Much that once was....is lost. For none now live to remember it."

He watched as a great fire burned before him, a pair of thongs that he recognized as those used by blacksmiths lifting what appeared to be small melting cup, the contents were no doubt metal and as he watched the images play out as the metal was forced into a mold for what appeared to be a ring, the elven woman spoke once more.

"It began with the forging of the Great Rings."

He saw three hands there, one was no doubt female and all three were elven. The rings had a diamond, a sapphire, and a ruby in them beautiful rings and though they were images, he could see that they had great power in them. He saw a beautiful blonde Elven female and two other elven men and he could see that all three of them were beings of great power.

"Three were given to the Elves, immortal, wisest, and fairest of all beings."

The images changed and before the Knight Captain were seven other rings on a stone table, then seven hands reached out to take those rings, he looked to see the faces of dwarves, all of regal and royal bearing as well as skill as they raised their hands with the rings in their grasp..

"Seven to the Dwarf Lords, great miners and craftsmen of the Mountain Halls."

He then saw nine men, every last one of them Human, each holding a ring as well, he could see that they each were kings and lords of great power and standing among men.

"And Nine...nine rings were given to the race of Men, who above all else, desire power."

He looked to see a land that he could tell was not Faerun though it had been some time since he looked at any maps back in Crossroad Keep.

"For within these rings was the strength and power to govern each race..."

Darren had no idea why he was seeing this but something compelled him to look closely at this.

"But they were all of them....deceived....for another ring was made."

The image changed to a land surrounded by mountains, and he felt something there, something vile and evil, he looked at the Sword of Gith that he had in his hand and saw the weapon glow deeply, something about this troubled Darren but he looked to see this image clearly. He saw a blasted wasteland and a volcano unleashing fell fire and ash.

"In the land of Mordor...in the fires of Mount Doom, the Dark Lord Sauron, forged in secret a master ring to control all others."

Darren looked at a figure dressed in evil looking armour, carrying with him an aura of pure evil as well as terror, he face hidden well by a mask of steel, forged to resemble the face of evil itself, the figure was surrounded in fire and smoke while in the very heart of the volcano seemingly unharmed by the hellish place he was in, this was enough to tell Darren that the being before him was not human.

He saw the ring in flame and there on it were words that made no sense to him, he listened to the elven woman as she continued her tale. As the being known as Sauron moved his fist which had the ring in it as it glowed in power

"And into this ring, he poured his cruelty, his malice, and his will to dominate all life....One ring to rule them..."

The images changed as he saw creatures resembling Orcs of some kind ravaging through the lands, evil Men wielding weapons of war attacking villages and towns, killing all who opposed them and enslaving those who couldn't fight back, the people before them screaming in fear, terror, and desperation while others were slain in their attempts to escape, the Weapon Master, who had long loved all that was good and just clenched his fists on his weapons at the sight of such cruelty.

"One by one, the Free Peoples of Middle Earth fell to the power of the Ring...but there were some who resisted."

He watched as an army of men dressed in plate and chainmail armour along with elves who were dressed in a very unique form of plate armour, carrying weapons that he didn't quite recognize but could tell were of elven make as they marched towards the massive volcano called Mount Doom in Mordor.

"A last Alliance of Men and Elves marched against the armies of Mordor and on the slopes of Mount Doom, they fought for the freedom Middle Earth."

Darren watched as the hideous Orcs were shot at by the men who had archers in their ranks, many fell but even more charged at the men and elves, the elves readied their shields and he spotted one who despite the dirt and grime was an elf of great power and standing just by the look of him, and he seemed to be an elf of great stature as he commanded their archers to unleash their arrows unafraid as some of the arrows flew past him.

The arrows cut down more of the Orcs as the two armies clashed in a bloody melee, men and elves fought side by side in battle against the Orcs and then he spotted the Elf general fighting bravely while another Elf armed with a powerful spear fought well alongside a man of royal bearing, bravery and skill, carrying a sword that glowed like it was on fire and light. Another man who was also of royal bearing fought well alongside his fellow Men and the allied Elves.

"Victory was near...."

Darren saw then that the leaders of the Men and Elves, along with their followers began to back away as the elven woman spoke.

"But the power of the Ring...could not be undone."

He then saw the being of evil known as Sauron had arrived in the field carrying a mace of some sort, he forced the Men and Elves back, even his own Orcs seemed to back away from their own lord. Without hesitation, the Dark Lord attacked the Men and Elves, his mace literally sending numbers of them flying this way and that, and Darren had no doubt that those Men and Elves were dead.

He saw the older man attack but he too was knocked aside, smashing hard into the rocks as he dropped his sword, his helm aside and the look of death on his face. He saw the younger man rush to the dead man's side, taking off his helm in pain and grief.

"It was in this moment, when all hope had faded...that Isildur son of the King took up his father's sword."

Darren watched as Sauron stood above the king and Isildur ready to end it, Isildur turned to take his father's weapon but Sauron broke it with his armoured boot, leaving only a broken blade as he reached to no doubt crush Isildur with his hands, the prince was undaunted and with the broken sword, sliced at Sauron, the evil being backed away as he roared in pain as his fingers were sliced off by the sword. The finger with the ring on it fell before Isildur and he looked to see Sauron's armour glow, the wind came alive as if being sucked into the glowing form of the Dark Lord, everyone backed away to hold their ground until the explosion of light followed, knocking many back.

Darren watched as the empty armoured shell of Sauron fell to the ground along with his helm that still bellowed smoke..

"Sauron...The Enemy of the Free Peoples of Middle Earth was defeated."

Darren felt elated to know that, but he watched as Isildur took into his hand the ring as the finger of Sauron crumbled in his hands. The ring glowed at that touch and Darren became worried.

"The Ring passed to Isildur, who had this one chance to destroy evil forever..."

Darren watched in shock and horror as the images showed Isildur and his forces leaving on a road in the woods...with the ring of Sauron in a chain on Isildur's armour.

"But the hearts of Men, are easily corrupted...and the Ring of Power has a will of it's own."

The Weapon Master watched as a large Orc force attacked the group completely by surprise one knocking Isildur off his horse and as Isildur watched his men being cut down by the Orcs he took the ring and vanished away from sight, as the chaos continued before Darren's eyes he saw Isildur run from the battle into the river, but then the King became visible, much to the man's horror as he tried to reach it, only to have several Orcs fire arrows into him, killing him as he floated through the water, his blood flowing out.

"It betrayed Isildur...to his death."

The ring fell into the river and was now lost in the undergrowth as the elven woman spoke.

"And some things that should not have been forgotten were now lost. History became legend, legend became myth...and for two and a half thousand years, the Ring passed out of all knowledge."

Darren watched as the ring appeared before him, just as a hand grabbed it from the bottom.

"Until, when chance came, it ensnared a new bearer."

He looked to see the hand become dirty and vile to the look and he heard a voice that made him grip the Sword of Gith in anger..

"Myyyy....Precious."

The images showed deep mountains covered in mist as the elven woman spoke some more.

"The ring came to the creature Gollum, who took it deep into the tunnels of the Misty Mountains, and there, it consumed him."

He looked to see a pit filled with the skeleton of rodents and fish and a pool of water, he watched as a hunched over form of someone nearly naked was speaking in the same vile tone he heard before.

"It came to me....My Life, My Love, My Own, My Precious...."

The being looked about, hearing a noise of some sort, as soon as it was assured that it was nothing the broken creature spoke once more, making Darren both pity and hate the creature for holding such an evil thing and treating it like a gift from the Gods.

"The ring brought Gollum unnatural long life, for five hundred years it poisoned his mind. And in the gloom of Gollum's cave, it waited..."

Darren watched as the lands grew dark and covered in mist.

"Darkness crept back into the forest of the world...rumour grew of a shadow in the East, whispers of a nameless fear...And the Ring of Power perceived that it's time had now come..."

Darren watched as the ring fell down the stones, it's sound echoing the return of something evil.

"It abandoned Gollum...but something happened then that the Ring did not intend..."

The ring was there and was taken by yet another hand, only this time, Darren saw that the hand belonged to a Halfling who appeared to be wearing simple clothes.

"It was picked up....by the most unlikely creature imaginable...Bilbo Baggins of the Shire."

Darren listened as Bilbo spoke.

"What's this....a Ring?"

Bildo backed away as he hard a powerful cry of despair that Darren recognized as that of Gollum himself.

"LOST!!!! THE PRECIOUS IS LOST!!!"

Darren looked at Bilbo as he pocketed the Ring as the woman spoke.

"For the time will soon come, that Hobbits will shape the fortunes of all."

Darren watched as the images faded and to his utter surprise he saw three figures walking towards him, one was an old man who was blind and had one hand cut off while carrying a sword in the left with a war-hammer on his belt, the other was a man who was covered in cuts, slashes, boils, scabs and wearing a loin cloth with his hands wrapped by red cord, he had a kind face and a hairy body, and he moved in great pain as well as his limbs appeared broken. The other was man wearing full plate armour and carrying a great sword on his shoulder.

He recognized them well enough as he was a worshipper of the three Gods before him...

"Tyr...Torm, Ilmater..."

The Weapon master was in awe as the three Gods walked before him and placed their hands on his chest, just where the shard of the Sword of Gith was, he felt a slight burning sensation and then he saw great light and he then heard a trio of voices called to him as the light blinded him as the burning faded..

"Go now, loyal son of the Triad.."

--------

In the valley…

(By the Gods…this feels like the time I tried to beat Khelgar in that drinking contest back in Uncle Duncan's place in Neverwinter's Docks District…only worse.)

Darren shook his head a bit and opened his eyes, the Weapon Master tried to get the lights out of his eyes, recalling the shocking meeting of the three Gods he worshipped as a young man back in his time in West Harbour. The young red haired youth always worshipped the House of the Triad and the Gods who formed it, the Blind God of Tyr, the Loyal Fury Torm, and The Broken God Ilmater. This faith was something that struck him as somewhat different in his village as many preferred to worship the Goddess Chauntea but they couldn't deny him that he was very much a man who followed the virtues of his chosen patron Gods well and to the letter.

He had no idea why he saw the three Gods that he worshipped all his life before him, and he watched as all three of three of them placed their hands on his chest, namely the place where the last shard of the Sword of Gith was, he recalled this brief burning pain and then nothing but blinding light…and now here he was in what appeared to be a valley of some sort in the middle of the night. He recalled all he had seen and wondered what was going on.

As soon as he was assured that he was very much alive, he looked at the area and couldn't help but try and figure out what happened and where was he.

(Did Sand's spell work?)

(Where are we?)

(Where are the others?!)

Darren tried to find any trace of his friends and his beloved, there seemed no sign of them at all, for a brief moment, the young warrior felt despair in his heart as he worried that maybe the spell had failed at some point and the others were lost to him, perhaps forever, but he placed that aside and knew that he must have faith in his friends and comrades. With that in mind, he managed to get himself to his feet and began to check his things.

His Red Dragon Armour was with him along with his Luck Stone, his Gauntlets of Ogre Power, the Belt of Storm Giant Strength, his Boots of Elven Kind, his Ring of Regeneration, his Ring of Universal Resistance, his Watchman's Helm, his Cloak that he got from the Spider Kistrel was still with him when he lost his Knight's Cloak. He then checked his sides and to his relief, he found his potion pouch still there along with the set Lesser Magic Bags, Greater Magic Bags, and of course his prized bag of Holding was still there, along with his chosen Katana swords the first being the Sword Saint's Legacy and the Divine Fury.

He knew that by the sounds coming from his bags, the extra supplies of potions, weapons, healing kits, armour, relics, books, rings, and more that he had gained over the course of his travels were still there. At least he was not going into the unknown unprepared to say the very least and with that in mind the Weapon Master became a bit more at ease. He looked down and to his surprise, he saw the Sword of Gith there before him.

He reached down to the weapon and noted that there seemed to be something different about the Githyanki weapon that he was tied to as Zhjaeve would put it. It felt more powerful for some reason, and it seemed more whole to him. Did his Gods have something to do with this? He thought about it and decided to wait for now and placed the sword away in his Bag of Holding.

However that was not going to last long as he spotted the form of what appeared to be some sort of ancient Tower which despite not having the keen elven eyes of his love Elanee to see with, had some sort of camp fire there, he wondered if the people were sleeping when he heard a massive wailing that sounded like the cries of souls tormented.

The cries were enough to send a small wave of chills into him, whatever it was, he could tell that it was evil, he was no Paladin like his friend Casavir but he didn't need to be a Paladin to know the screams spoke of torment, suffering, and death. He knew that he had to hurry as best he could to find out what was going on at the top of the Tower, he was lucky his Watchman's Helm was able to provide him with light and Kistrel's Cloak helped him see in the dark as he rushed up the Tower.

He rushed quickly up there and then as he reached the top he spotted them, forms of men wearing black cloaks and hoods armed with blades and all of them seemed to be aiming at one young form before them, the form appeared to be in deep pain as Darren took a closer look to find out just who and what those being were closing in on. He was surprised to see a Halfling of all things, dressed in simple clothes, he spotted a short sword there and no doubt was the unfortunate creature's weapon.

The Halfling was in great pain and clutching his shoulder, no doubt he had been stabbed by them. Darren could tell that they were not human and were no doubt Undead, he had fought so many of the Undead summoned by the Shadow Reavers as well as the other Undead threats that moved in his home plane. These appeared to be different somehow yet the same. He reached into one of his pouches and knew that he would have something for those bastards.

------

Meriadoc Brandybuck, Peregrin Took, and Samwise Gamgee tried to get themselves back into action to save Frodo, but they were no match for the Ring Wraiths and were running out of time as the Undead beings closed in on Frodo, They had hoped to get some rest while they were there at Weathertop while Aragorn had gone off to scout the land and keep watch, but not before giving them weapons to defend themselves. The three silently cursed their bad luck at this and wished they had not done what they did. They had cooked a nightly meal of bacon, potatoes, tomatoes and herbs, courtesy of Sam, Frodo woke up and was shocked and wanted know what they were doing, they told him and Sam offered a plate to his master and close friend, Frodo however tried to turn off the fire, It was then that the Ring Wraiths found them.

They tried to defend each other as best they could, but the Ring Wraiths tossed them aside and were now about to attack Frodo after their apparent leader stabbed Frodo on the shoulder even after Frodo used the One Ring to avoid them. They wished they could so something, but how could they fight beings who were already dead and were more skilled then they were?

It was then that they spotted three flying vials of glowing white liquid flying towards the Ring Wraiths they were wondering just what they were when the vials landed and exploded in a display of light that seemed gentle to their eyes and didn't harm them. However they were shocked to see the Ring Wraith recoil and cry out in pain, as if the light burned them deeply, but what kind of liquid was it that seemed to scare even the Ring Wraiths?

It was then that a voice cried out and it wasn't Aragorn's voice.

"FOR THE TRIAD!!!!"

The Hobbits turned and were stunned to see a man wearing red armour, a cloak, and carrying what appeared to be a glowing silver sword with jagged edges in both his hands. The man wore a helm and some sort of cloak, a pair of sheathed swords on his waist and several bags around his waist as well. The man charged right at the Ring Wraiths, much to the shock of the Hobbits as they had no idea who he was or why he was here along with why he was helping them of all people. They were also amazed by the weapon he had in both hands, it seemed like it was made of pure silver somehow yet as soon as the man struck at the Ring Wraiths the weapon became a shimmering solid mass of liquid silver….it was beautiful and amazing to behold.

Darren readied himself, tossing the vials of Holy Water first to force the Wraiths back and then engage them in close combat.

The Ring Wraiths managed to recover, but they were quickly assaulted by the new arrival with his massive weapon, this attack from the unexpected arrival scattered the group of Ring Wraiths and forced them to back away from their quarry. One Ring Wraith was suddenly slashed by the new attacker and screeched in horrifying pain as one of it's limbs were sliced off by the shimmering blade and forced it back in pain.

The other Ring Wraiths, including the one who stabbed Frodo converged on the red armoured man who fought them off, blocking their sword strikes with his own shimmering blade with great skill. They were unaware that the Hobbits had another guarding them and they couldn't help but stare at the weapon the man wielded, this was no ordinary weapon before them they could feel the power in the sword and they were wary.

Darren wielded the Silver Sword of Gith before him in both hands, as much as he wanted to use his katanas against them as both the Sword Saint's Legacy and the Divine Fury were able to hold their own against the Undead in a pitched battle he was not going to risk it and summoned the Silver Sword to battle and it seemed to be the right choice, it was the only weapon that slew the King of Shadows and it was able to hold it's own against these new Undead. He had little time to train with the Silver Sword of Gith but that certainly didn't mean it was a difficult weapon to master.

He evaded a deadly slash to his head by one Ring Wraith and quickly attacked in response, forcing his foe back as he then blocked a powerful stab to his side by another Ring Wraith and slashed them, he watched them carefully as he knew that even with the Red Dragon Armour on as well as his Ring of Universal Resistance, he couldn't take any risks with these new Undead. He looked at the wounded Halfling and he could see that he was in great pain, sparing a glance at the three Halflings, he shouted to them.

"See to your friend you three! I'll hold them off!"

That was enough to get Sam, Merry, and Pip into action as they rushed to Frodo's side. One Ring Wraith tried to attack but Darren came in and blocked their path as he challenged them.

"You shall not pass you Undead scum! I will send back to the Nine Hells if you take another step further!"

The Ring Wraiths roared in anger at that threat and closed in, Darren readied his sword but then he spotted movement and sure enough he spotted another man join the fray, he was apparently dressed in light leathers and carrying a long sword as well as a torch. The dark haired man threw himself at the Ring Wraiths and fought with consummate skill, making the Weapon Master see that he was an ally and not a threat. He wasted no time and charged deep into the ranks of the Ring Wraiths.

The two fought well and from what he could see of the new arrival's style he could see shades of Ranger training there in his movements, reminding the Knight Captain of his former ally turned enemy Bishop, Darren could tell that the man however was not the same as the traitorous Ranger as he seemed to fight with a noble spirit, similar to his own friend Casavir. He placed those thoughts aside for now as they both focused on the Ring Wraiths, it was not long before the Ring Wraiths began to retreat, no doubt due to facing two attackers at once, he then spotted the Ranger take aim and toss the torch at one of the Ring Wraiths and striking the Undead dead centre in the face with the torch's burning head. He was impressed at that as he had never seen that done before in his life.

(Even Neeshka was never that good with throwing knives; this Ranger's got some good skills.)

Darren followed the Ring Wraiths and as soon as he was assured that they were gone, he relaxed and placed aside the Silver Sword of Gith and had the sword back in his Bag of Holding, however, his battle trained senses warned him of danger and he quickly grabbed one of his katana swords, namely the Sword Saint Legacy and quickly turned to have his sword right at the Ranger's chest while the Ranger's own sword was at his throat and his armoured fore-arm ready to move to block the sword as his right hand held the sword in a one handed grip..

The Knight Captain of Crossroad Keep frowned at the Ranger, he was not expecting the man to take his weapon to him and he made his dislike of the situation plain enough for the man to hear.

"What's the big idea of you pointing your sword at me Ranger?"

Aragorn glared at the man but was impressed nevertheless, he and his kin, the Rangers were able to sneak up on people when they needed to yet somehow this man, despite the red armour he wore moved with such speed and skill that was uncanny. Not to mention that glowing silver blade he used was something he, for all his long years had never heard of before.

He had been going out to scout the wilds for a safe route at early light when he heard the cry of the Ring Wraiths, he rushed to protect Frodo and the other Halflings and had arrived to see the Ring Wraiths close in on Frodo, he was about to leap in when he also saw the three vials flying and was surprised to see the Ring Wraiths recoil in pain at the explosion of light, It was then that he heard the cry and then saw the stranger attack the Ring Wraiths. He was even surprised that instead of showing fear before the most feared and powerful servants of Sauron the Deceiver the man seemed totally confident and even insulted them.

He put that aside and spoke seriously.

"Who are you stranger?"

Darren could see that the ranger was not going to relent until he gave an answer and did so.

"My name is Darren Kell, formerly of the Mere Village of West Harbour, Member of the Neverwinter Nine, and Knight-Captain of Crossroad Keep. Now that you know who I am Ranger, now it's your turn."

Aragorn decided not to take chances with the man even though he was not an enemy and replied using the name the Halflings called him most of the time.

"I am Strider, a Ranger of the North."

Darren nodded and seeing that nothing could be gained by being hostile, he pulled the Sword Saint Legacy away, Aragorn did the same but before things could get into motion, the cries of Frodo stopped them just as Sam cried out to Aragorn.

"STRIDER!!! MASTER FRODO'S HURT BAD!"

Aragorn quickly rushed to Frodo's side and began to assess the injury, Darren did the same and looked at the Halfling, he was shocked to see the Halfling dying from a simple wound, that told him well enough that the dagger might have been enchanted with some sort of curse or poisoned, this was not the first time he had heard of or seen such weapons either and he quickly rummaged through his Bags to find a Healing Kit or some Blessing Potions along with some Healing Potions.

Merry and Pip tried to do something but they were in shock at all this and were trying to get some sense into themselves, Sam looked at Frodo and could see the intense pain his Master was suffering. The Halfling gardener swore as he looked at the weapon that was dropped and pointed it to Aragorn.

"Those Wraiths stabbed Mister Frodo with this thing!!"

Aragorn picked up the dagger left behind by the Ring Wraith that stabbed Frodo, he looked at the evil weapon and swore silently as he spoke.

"He's been stabbed by a Morgul Blade…."

The weapon's blade disintegrated quickly as he dropped it and the Ranger spoke.

"Such a wound like this is beyond my skill to heal, he needs elvish medicine and quickly!"

Darren then placed aside the Healing Kit had taken out, he moved forward and spoke to the party before him.

"I'll carry him for you."

Sam was about to argue as he had no idea who this man in red armour was but he realized that they had little time on their hands. Aragorn thought so too, but he had a feeling in him that this man could be trustworthy and nodded.

"Very well Darren, we have to hurry to Rivendell to have Frodo cured!"

--------

The group ran as fast as they could and Darren was happy that his Red Dragon Armour was not weighing him down as he carried the Halfling on his back while they moved as quickly as they could manage through the lands. The Weapon Master looked about while the others moved just as quickly as they could manage, he was lucky that he was not too tired as he carried the wounded Halfling for as long as he could while questions flew through his head.

(Where were the others?)

(Where in Faerun were they?)

(What is Rivendell?)

( What were those things that attacked the Halflings?)

These questions flew in his mind as he moved with Aragorn leading them while Sam, Merry and Pip followed behind them. The running wore him down, but he knew that now was not the time to worry about himself as he knew that this Halfling named Frodo needed aid badly. He hoped that whoever they would meet in this place called Rivendell can not only save Frodo but also answer his questions.

They moved through the lands until they had no choice but to rest in a forest, Darren set Frodo down and he felt really tired and reached into one of his Bags and took out some dried meat and a small bottle of spring water that he stored over and ate the meat and drank the water, He then took out the Divine Fury and stood guard while Sam spoke to Aragorn.

"Mister Frodo's growing cold…."

Merry was worried as well and spoke with fear and worry in his voice as well as his face.

"Is he going to die?"

Aragorn replied solemnly, he had seen this happen before in his life fighting Sauron and knew the result if they didn't cure Frodo as well as reading the histories of such weapons made by the Enemy.

"The Morgul Blade is made with dark fell magic and poison and only two Ring Wraiths carry them, the leader and his lieutenant, if we don't get him to Rivendell to be cured, Frodo will pass into the Shadow Realm and die, eventually he will become a wraith like them."

The Halflings were shocked and Sam spoke.

"But we're still days from Rivendell Strider….we'll never make it…"

Darren replied as he walked over to them as he placed his gauntleted hand on Sam's shoulder.

"Don't lose your faith yet Sam, we need to focus on the here and now….Strider, is there anything that can at least slow down the poison until we get to this place?"

Aragorn nodded and spoke to Sam.

"There is, and we're near the borders of elven lands already so we can find it well enough, Sam, do you know the Athelas plant?"

Sam was confused by that and spoke his confusion.

"Athelas?'

"It's also known as Kingsfoil Sam."

"Kingsfoil? That's a kind of weed, I know that plant well!"

Aragorn was relieved and spoke seriously.

"That's good, we need to gather as much of it as we can, it's juices can help slow down the poison."

Sam was eager to go as Aragorn then turned to speak to Darren but the Weapon Master already knew what the Ranger had in mind.

"Don't worry, I'll keep watch until you and Sam get back Strider."

--------

As Aragorn and Sam moved into the deeper areas of the forest, they split up to cover more ground, the Ranger managed to find a very large patch of the plant they needed into order to help slow down the poison of the Morgul Blade, he quickly took out his elven dagger and began to cut several clumps of the plant, but he quickly tensed as he felt the touch of steel on his neck.

Aragorn silently cursed himself for making such a foolish mistake, as a Ranger he was always to be on guard lest he would be ambushed, but with Frodo's life hanging in the balance, he had forgotten that rule. However he was calmed somewhat as he heard the voice.

It was elven and female….and also the voice belonged to someone he knew very well.

"What's this? A Ranger caught off his guard?"

--------

Darren kept his focus on the guarding of the area with his Divine Fury in his hands, he moved his gaze through the lands to see just what might come out from the undergrowth that might very well be a threat. He turned to look at Frodo who was being watched over by Pip and he couldn't help but hope that Aragon and Sam hurried and found that plant that they needed to slow down the poison.

He was surprised when Merry walked up to him and spoke.

"Excuse me…."

"What is it?"

"I wanted to ask you something sir."

"Make it quick then, we have a lot of things to do."

"All right then, who are you?"

Darren looked at Merry and replied.

"The name's Darren Kell then, I was born in West Harbour, a swamp village in the Mere, I currently am a member of the Neverwinter Nine, and Knight Captain or Crossroad Keep. Is that enough to satisfy you?"

Merry thought about it and shook his head.

"Just one more question…what was that glowing sword you had before?'

Darren sighed and replied.

"It's called the Silver Sword of Gith, it's a weapon of great power and intellect…"

Merry's eyes widened at that and he spoke excitedly.

"Is it alive?!"

Darren wished he could truly answer that question, there times he felt that the sword was alive and Zhjaeve' explanations of the Silver Sword's origins were very different from most lessons, he knew that some weapons could be imbued with living energy to become sentient weapons of great power, he had heard a number of tales about such things in his youth listening to his foster father Daeghun Farlong and knew them to be true. He had no full idea of the Silver Sword's full history so he replied.

"Yes it's alive…more or less. It's truly alive when it senses the presence of the one it's master seeks to slay."

"Are you it's master?"

"Y…Yes…I and a few friends re-forged it when it was shattered long ago, we needed it as it was the only weapon able to wound and harm the King of Shadows."

"King of Shadows? Is that another name for Sauron?"

That was enough to make Darren look seriously at Pip.

"Where did you learn that name?!"

Before Merry could reply, he rushed back to check on Frodo as the wounded Halfling cried out in pain and Darren quickly heard hoof beats, telling him that there was someone coming this way on horseback, the Weapon Master had no idea of the new arrival was a friend or a foe and quickly got into position to attack the incoming threat as best he could.

However the very second he saw the approaching form, he gasped and lowered his Katana sword.

--------

Frodo, gripped in the pain of the poison looked to the side, he eyes already taking much different hue and form, but as the darkness closed in on him, he turned and saw something else, apparently the changes allowed him to see things in ways that most people would not be able to see well.

Before him was a glowing white light in the darkness and there was a form of a horse and then a woman in white….he recognized the woman for what she was…an elf, and an elf of great power.

As Frodo looked at the elf walking towards him, he studied her features as best he could with the fading vision in his eyes. The elf had blue eyes like sapphires, long dark black as midnight hair, while raiment, a beautiful face and an air of nobility about her that spoke of great strength and will.

He focused on her words as he felt his will to live coming back to him.

--------

Merry, Pip, and Sam were stunned as they looked at the new arrival before them while Darren sheathed the Divine Fury and looked as the female elf looked Frodo over, while the Halflings looked on at the new arrival, the Weapon Master was reminded of Elanee, there was strength in this female elf which reminded him of the elven Druidess he loved ever since meeting her, those memories and the fact that he didn't know if she was alive or dead were more than enough to force him to look away from the elf woman and focus on keeping an eye on other matters.

"Who is she?"

Sam replied.

"She's an elf…"

Aragorn arrived and quickly began to chew the Athelas he had found into a paste to place on the wound, as he did so, he was happy that the one he met was Arwen, it had been some time since he had seen her and it did his heart good that she was in good health though he worried for her with the Ring Wraiths about, he then noted something when he looked at the direction of Darren…the Ranger was surprised to see the Weapon Master seemingly avoiding to look at Arwen, almost as if he wanted not to look at her.

That confused the Ranger but decided to wait for a more prudent time to speak to the Weapon Master and Knight Captain as he spoke to Arwen.

"How is he?"

Arwen shook her head and replied.

"He's fading fast, the Athelas will slow the poison down, but not for long, we need to get him to my father's only…."

Arwen's words stopped as she looked to see the other man dressed in red armour nearby, the elf woman had focused all her attention on the Halfling that she ignored the man, but now that she saw him, she wondered who the new person was and why he avoided looking at her. She spoke to him to try and find out who he was.

"Who are you?"

Darren knew that he needed to answer and quickly, he calmed himself and focused his thoughts to speak to the woman. As soon as he did so, he faced Arwen and spoke as clearly as he could, he could tell that apart from the strength there that he could see, the elf woman was no doubt of high rank, judging by the raiment she had with her as well as the specially crafted sword that she carried with her. He didn't recognize the craftsmanship of the sword she had but could tell that it was both elegant and deadly as well and if one woman carried this, then she was no doubt of royalty.

"My name is Darren Kell my Lady…."

Arwen wondered what was going on but placed that aside for the moment, she knew that Frodo's life was on a knife's edge and staying here would be a mistake. However she wanted know more about who this man was…something about him seemed different and his name seemed to be familiar to her. She then nodded to Aragorn and the two of them moved to her horse and they both spoke in the elvish tongue.

"I will take Frodo to your father, stay here with the Halflings and I will send horses and an armed escort to you."

"No Aragorn, time is against us, besides, I am a better rider than you."

"You can't ask me that….the Ring Wraiths are out there, I can't just…"

"Aragorn, you know my skill with magic and the sword, we are near the lands of my father, the magic there will protect me, I do not fear them."

Aragorn was torn by this as he looked at Arwen he feared deeply for her safety but he knew that she was right, as an elf, Arwen had a bond with animals that made her a great rider, and she always was the best in the art of horsemanship. She could get Frodo to her father faster than him. Yet he couldn't find it in himself to just let her go. However he decided to do it and Arwen nodded as she mounted her horse with Frodo in front of her as she spoke to her horse encouraging it as best she could.

The two were unaware that Darren looked at them and couldn't help but see the love between them, it reminded him yet again of the love between him and his Wild Elven Druidess and it tore at him, he had hoped to find her soon, but with all this happening, he could only hope that he could find her alive...or...

(No! I will not give up hope!! Elanee and the others have to be alive!!!)

"What are you doing?! Those Wraiths are still out there!!!!"

Sam's cry was more than enough to wake Darren out of his thoughts and he reached Sam and held the Halfling's shoulder, making the Halfling turn to him with angry eyes, he was not angry himself at the look as he understood Sam's reaction, but he knew that they had other problems and looked at Sam as he replied.

"Strider made the right decision, she is the better rider than any of us, and elves always had a tie with nature so they know how to ride well. We don't have time to worry about that for now. We have to hurry to Rivendell ourselves, if those Wraiths find us, I've got no doubt they'd torture us until we told them where Frodo is."

Sam tried to speak but Strider, or rather Aragorn nodded in agreement.

"Darren is right, come on, there's other paths to Rivendell so we should get going."

As their group moved out, Aragorn walked over to Darren and spoke in elvish to the Weapon Master.

"You speak the elvish language?"

Darren nodded, his foster father Daeghun had taught him much of the lore of the elves that he had encountered in his days to better prepare him for life beyond West harbour and while some words between the pair were lost to the young Weapon Master including the elven woman's name, he understood most of it, he also understood that Strider's true name was Aragorn but didn't say anything about it.

"Yes, my foster father Daeghun Farlong was an elven adventurer and famed Ranger as well so I know the language to some degree....I can also tell that there is history between you two."

Aragorn nodded a bit as they gathered their gear as he planned to get the others and reach Rivendell safely, though his eyes went to the path that Arwen had taken before and Darren noticed that and spoke to Aragorn.

"You're not the first human to fall in love with an elven maiden Strider, and I have no doubt you will not be the last either."

Aragorn turned sharply to him and spoke.

"How do you know that?"

"I have eyes you know...and I too am in love with an elven woman of my own...and I hope to find her soon and see if she is safe."

Aragorn was stunned by this and wanted to know more but seeing that Darren was not in the mood to talk about things such as that decided to wait for a better time or better yet in Rivendell. There were too many questions in his mind about who this stranger was and why was it he seemed different as well.

For now, they had to hurry...

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To be continued...

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Author's Notes:

My first ever crossover with a movie and a famous book....not too shabby actually and I hope that it will be all right for all the readers.

This was an idea I had for a while so i figured I put it into paper before I lost it, anyway, it's still in the prologue so it might not be updated yet until I finish a few more stories.

As for Darren Kell, he is a Weapon Master and uses Katana swords in battle, he also happens to be a dual wielder type of Weapon Master which is why he carries two katana swords. As for the rest of his Company, and Elanee, they are around so don't worry about it too much and as to how will the company of the Knight Captain and the Kalach-Cha be able to aid the Fellowship when the time comes, that remains to be seen in the coming chapters once I get my plans into working order.


	2. Chapter 2

Lord of the Rings X Neverwinter Nights

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Lord of the Rings or Neverwinter Nights.

Chapter 1

Rest and Reunion in Rivendell

( ): Thoughts

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In Rivendell...

Darren sat down on the bed in the room that he had been given to by the elves that resided in the place known as Rivendell. It was a very beautiful place, he had never seen such architecture before in his life and could tell that the land was truly under the protection of magic as well as steel. He recalled that well enough the very moment they all stepped into the land. It seemed that Strider, or rather Aragorn truly knew of other paths into Rivendell. But as soon as they arrived near the borders, they were greeted by a number of elves who were dressed in full battle gear, armour, and weaponry.

The elves were apparently led by two brothers, he could tell they were siblings just by the fact that they resembled each other very well and only twin siblings could look that way. He also saw that they were skilled with their choice of weapons, one had a great bow and the other had a sword with some similarity to the one he saw Aragorn's elven love carried, though the swords they had were apparently made for more male use as well as for war. He then noted something else about the two siblings....they had the air of nobility around them, not the kind bought by flattery or bribery, but through, blood, birth right, and service.

Aragorn seemed to know them and despite not getting all the words spoken by the Ranger to the two elven siblings, Darren was able to hear their names and the names being Elladan and Elrohir, he also heard Aragorn call them brothers, something that confused him at first until he decided that maybe Aragorn had lived most of his life in this place, which would explain why he knew the routes as well as the elven language.

Aragorn and the Halflings were allowed in and Aragorn spoke for him, however he had been assigned to this room until Lord Elrond had finished in healing Frodo. The elves in the area who were armed looked at him warily but seemed to be merely cautious, he couldn't blame them for that kind of reaction to say the very least. He was a stranger in a strange land and carrying weapons, and armour they had never seen before as well so they had a right to be cautious.

He looked out the window and tried to take in the sight, Rivendell was indeed beautiful, but as a warrior and taking knowledge from his many experiences, the Knight Captain of Crossroad Keep could tell there was something in the air that hung over this place, something like a great secret that threatened to weigh down on it's occupants.

Darren wondered if it had anything to do with what he saw when he was moving through the portal only a day or so before, but decided to wait for the time being until he got some solid answers to his questions, it was a long path he was taking, that much he knew for a solid fact but it was better than making assumptions that would either lead to nowhere, or get him into trouble.

He was currently wearing a simple set of clothes, a long sleeved shirt with a vest woven in, soft leather pants and boots, his Red Dragon Armour, off of him as well as the rest of his gear, with his Bags there on the side, he then looked at the door when he heard it open. He spotted one of the elven warriors who acted as part of the guard assigned to his room.

"Lord Elrond will see you now Darren Kell, it would be best you get your self presentable."

"I understand."

As the guard nodded, Darren Kell turned to his Bags to seek something that would be worth wearing, he kept in mind that if this Lord Elrond was of noble lineage, then he should dress accordingly, he wished that he had his Knight's Cloak, but since it was lost to him, he decided to rummage for a good replacement. He found his Neverwinter City Watchman's Cloak and seeing that it was the only cloak that looked official, he decided to put that back on and then took out his Neverwinter Nine Tunic.

The Tunic of the elite body guard of Lord Nasher was both for gala events and for combat as it was well crafted and made for such use. He hoped however that he was not going to give the wrong impression when he was facing Lord Elrond. As soon as he was fully dressed in his choice of clothes, he heard the door open and in walked a tall elf with some sort of crown on his head.

The Elf looked serious and grave, his eyes shown with power, and nobility, and the way he walked and looked at things showed to Darren that he was carrying a great deal of wisdom in him and was not someone to trifle with. Judging by his choice of clothes, and the way the other elves who were on either side of him, then he must be the one named Lord Elrond. And he recognized him well enough, he was the same elf general he saw in the visions....

The Elf guards were looking at him with hostile eyes as they gazed at him wearing his Neverwinter Nine Tunic and they even reached for swords, but Elrond held his hand up and the elven guards placed aside their sword. Elrond then spoke to the young Weapon Master.

"Greetings to you Darren Kell, I am Lord Elrond and I bid you welcome to Imladris or in the Common Tongue, Rivendell."

The Weapon Master nodded at that, he was right, this Elf was Lord Elrond and the way he acted told him more than enough that this Elf was not someone to be trifled with and could even give Lord Nasher a run for his coin. With that in mind he gave a bow to Elrond.

"I thank you Lord Elrond."

Elrond nodded as he spoke as soon as Darren looked at him.

"Forgive the reaction my fellow Elves, the eye that you wear on your tunic resembles something that many of our kin have feared and have been at war with for quite some time. If you do not mind, I would like to ask you come to my halls for a discussion. I can tell you have many questions that you desire answers to."

"How do you know that Lord Elrond?"

The Elf gave a slight smile at that.

"I need only to look at your face to see that you have many questions, but it would be best that they are answered in a more formal setting, besides, it is not just me who has expressed an interest in finding out who you are Darren Kell."

As the Elf Lord and the Weapon Master left with the Elves guarding him, Darren was able to see the beauty of Rivendell and had to admit that it was truly a beautiful sight to behold.

Darren looked at the people before him as Lord Elrond sat on the chair that was no doubt his for the day.

He saw the two brothers before him, no longer wearing their armour or carrying their weapons, they wore simple coloured but undeniably regal clothing, the elven woman who he had seen before was there as well, looking regal and beautiful to behold, he saw Aragorn dressed in a long sleeved shirt with pants and boots, all of which were soft looking and comfortable but utilitarian as well. The next was a Halfling who appeared to be greatly aged, and carrying a book, he had a smile on his face and carried a quill of some sort. The last was a man who appeared to be greatly aged, with a long beard and a full head of hair, all of which was in disarray and full of white, along with wearing robes of grey.

To most people, the elderly male would appear to be nothing more than an old man, but to Darren he saw a man who possessed great power and wisdom, as well as a great deal of hidden power...in short, Darren saw a great Wizard before him.

He had heard of many famous Wizards in his time and met one himself, namely the Sage Aldanon, and of course he had heard of the famous Elminster Aumar who was known as the Old Mage or the Sage of Shadowdale, any adventurer or bard worth even a quarter of his or her salt had known of the famous Wizard who was one of the Chosen of Mystra, who was the lover of the female mage known as The Symbul who was born Alassra Shentranta Silverhand and known as the Witch-Queen of Aglarond of the Seven Sisters who was also a Chosen of Mystra herself, he knew that the Wizard was known to have even shared a bed with the Goddess once. The other Wizard that he knew of was Elminster's rival, the one known as Khelben 'Blackstaff' Arunsun, a Lord of Waterdeep, as well as a Masked Lord of the same city and also known as a powerful Archmage and his wife, the Lady Mage of Waterdeep who was known as Laerel Silverhand. Both women were Chosen of Mystra and were part of the group known as the Seven Sisters.

He could see power in the Wizard and he could tell that he was being studied by the man himself and it did him good to see the Wizard smile a bit.

Elrond then spoke.

"I would like to introduce you to your audience Darren Kell, since you were able to understand the elvish tongue, you no doubt know the two twins to be Elladan and Elrohir, they are my sons and the lady before you is their sister and my daughter Arwen. You no doubt would have known Strider's real name to be Aragorn. The other is the Istari we elves know as Mithrandir or in the tongues of Men, you may know as Gandalf the Grey. And the Halfling you see before you is Bilbo..."

"Bilbo Baggins of the Shire, I know him well enough."

Bilbo was surprised by this and so were Gandalf and Aragorn, the two wondered just how could Darren have known of the Halfling when they had only just met, Bilbo himself was curious and decided to be the first to ask that particular question.

"I'm sorry Darren, but I have never met you before, how is it that you know me?"

Darren shook his head and replied.

"That is a very long story actually."

Elrond nodded at that.

"That much I can see, please take a seat Darren and tell us your tale."

Darren sat down and began to tell his tale for his audience, as much as he was not all that keen in revealing his past, he had no choice in the matter as they needed to know just who he was so they were assured that he was not a threat.

"Very well....for me to tell you who I am, I would have to go back a number of years in my past and what happened to me afterwards."

--------

He told them of his home in the Mere as well as some history of the Mere of Dead Men, and the people who he had known all his life, he spoke of his friends Amie and Bevil, his foster father Daeghun, Georg, Tarmas, the three Mossfield siblings, and more. How the day after the Harvest Cup, his village was attacked by the Githyanki in search of the shards of the Silver Sword of Gith.

Darren mentioned the Githyanki from what he had been told by both Aldanon and Zhjaeve as well as the history of the Githyanki Silver Swords as well as the order of Githyanki dedicated to hunting down lost or stolen swords and punishing those they deemed responsible for the crime of stealing them, he mentioned the Silver Sword of Gith and what it was to the Gith in general. He then told them of his retrieval of the shard with Bevil from the ruins in the swamp as well as the battles with the Lizard Folk.

He continued with his meeting of two of his long time friends, allies, and companions, Khelgar Ironfist and Neeshka as well, how they aided Fort Locke in dealing with it's missing Commander and the bandits, who he managed to convince to work for the Commander as well as meeting Marshall Cormick, and old friend of his back in his home of West Harbour. It was there also that they met elven Druidess Elanee...

The memory of his beloved Druidess tore into Darren and he was a bit silent at first, trying to will his mind to focus on telling his tale, he managed to do so, but couldn't help but notice that the elven woman named Arwen gave him a knowing smile. He wondered why that was the case, but decided to save that for the time being.

He continued by telling them of the dealings in the Maiden's Glade as well as the situation in High Cliff, there he spoke of his meeting with Shandra Jerro as well as helping Slaan deal with the Undead and easing the tension between the Lizard Folk and the residents of High Cliff as well as ensuring trade routes by sea were open for all.

He told them of his arrival to Neverwinter, describing the city in detail to his audience and then talking about his encounter with his uncle Duncan, who was quite a departure from his foster father Daeghun as well as meeting his future ally Sand as well as dealing with Qara, who had tried to burn down his uncle's tavern known as the Sunken Flagon.

He then spoke of his actions in retaking the Docks District from Moire and her gang of cutthroats when he joined the Neverwinter Watch as well as breaking the back of the Shadow thieves' operations in the city. He recalled his promotion to Lieutenant by Captain Brelaina after the burning of the City Watch building and the death of Lieutenant Roe. He recalled all the operations such as stopping a weapons shipment and turning over the weapons and gear to the Watch, attacking the main warehouse of the thieves and getting the documents that would reveal the contacts of the thieves inside and outside of Neverwinter, as well the death of Moire and her forces by his own hands and that of his group when they were sent to protect a vital witness to their operations.

Darren also mentioned dealing with Neeshka's own problems with a former ally of hers named Leldon and his hired goons as well as the mission they undertook to aid Elanee in finding out answers by going to the Sky Mirror and what happened there afterwards. This also included the need to help Khelgar find the true purpose of becoming a monk as he wished that to be so when they first met back at the Inn when he was on his way to Neverwinter with the shard. There he was able to convince Khelgar to look past his previous prejudice towards others, namely Neeshka and Elanee to pass the first part of the Trials placed on him by the head monk of the Temple of Tyr in Neverwinter.

He then told them of his travels to the place known as Old Owl Well to rescue a special ambassador of the Lord's Alliance from Waterdeep had been taken by the enemy he knew as Black Garius and his allies who came from the service of the King of Shadows, it was there that he met his allies and close friends, the Paladin Casavir and the bard Grobnar Gnomehands. He smiled a bit as he recalled the way Grobnar acted now and then, while the others were either annoyed or bored by the gnome's tales and antics, he found them to be rather amusing as well as relaxing. He continued his tale to how he fought the Orc Tribes that infested Old Owl Well as well as his battles to reach the leader of the Orcs known as Logram Eyegouger and his lieutenant Yaisog Bonegnasher, he told them of the battles they had there, freeing some Dire Wolves who were held captive with the aid of Elanee who by being a Druidess could speak to the creatures as well as not killing the wounded and dying Orcs there. There along the way, they were able to help Khelgar pass the other part of his trial to become a monk by helping his clan and repairing the damage his actions had caused the clan when he left on his mission for adventure and glory when they needed him the most. They found the Gauntlets of IronFist and also cleared the area of Bugbears and their Ogre leader as well as the allied Ogres.

He continued to the time they faced the Shadow Priest who was using the bodies of both Orcs and humans who lived in Old Owl Well as subjects and materials to form a new army, they slew him and freed the ambassador, allowing the dwarven member of the Neverwinter Nine and military leader in charge of the Greycloak garrison in Old Owl Well, Callum to fortify their position and he knew that he would be known as the Orcslayer by the Orc Tribes for a very long time as well as gaining the aid of Casavir and Grobnar for what was to come. Callum rewarded them well and thanked them for their efforts along with Casavir himself.

He then mentioned his battle with the Luskans who came by the ship known as the Sea Ghost and then he told them of the battle he and his friends had with the Githyanki forces that were after him in a hidden base in the city when he sought to find Aldanon and after getting the information he sought from the Sage in the Blacklake District, he knew that the Githyanki would be after Ammon Jerro or in this case Shandra Jerro as they had a belief that she, being the last of the Jerro line deserved to be punished for her grandfather's crimes, they rushed back to her farm and saved her life after fighting off the Githyanki, and brought her to the Sunken Flagon for her safety.

However the Githyanki had not given up on the matter and captured Shandra as the fighting broke out in the Sunken Flagon, he then recalled meeting the Ranger Bishop and for a moment he recalled Bishop who was quite evil and amoral, but his scouting abilities and skill with the bow was welcomed either way, he recalled them going to the village of Ember where the survived a Githyanki ambush and meeting a woman named Alaine who was a friend of Shandra and there they were able to get an idea on where Shandra had been taken by the Githyanki they were also able to meet Marcus and managed to arm the boy with Bishop's knife.

They moved on and spoke to a Halfling named Guyven of the Road as they fought their way to the Githyanki hideout, fighting through their ranks as well as facing the demons, devils, and fiends that came out of nowhere, he then spoke of how they found the Blade Golem, the very same one that burst into their battle with the Githyanki in their own base in Neverwinter...as well as Mephasm, one of the powerful members of the Nine Hells and he recalled Neeshka's reaction to the Devil as well. Darren then spoke of the Sword Stalker known as Zeeaire, and after slaying the greatest of the Githyanki Sword Stalkers, and freeing Shandra, they headed back to Neverwinter to plot their next move, unaware of the fact that their efforts were not going to be the end of it as they trained Shandra in the art of combat to be able to defend herself a lot better if she was going to under their wing.

He then told of the time he had been accused of the slaughter of the village of Ember and had gained an ally, namely Sand to find answers to prove his innocence towards the crime, he then recalled meeting many other people in order to find the answers that he knew he would need in order to clear his name of the charges. He told them of his rise to being a squire of Sir Grayson and the attempt of the Luskan assassin squad from the Luskan organization known as the Circle of Blades to kill him, foiled by Shandra and himself.

He then told of his time gathering evidence to prove himself innocent of the crimes as well as uncovering two vile plots, one by a necromantic cult who was part of the organization that was run by the King of Shadows that sought to corrupt the youth of the nobility of Neverwinter, the other was the actions of a noble that sought to overthrow Nasher with the aid of the Luskans for his own desire to be in charge of Neverwinter. He also helped Captain Brelaina in working a sting operation against the Shadow Thieves, and he smiled a bit at the reputation he had of being a whirling dervish of destruction and death under the side of the law.

He then told them about his meeting with Alaine in the town of Port Llast as well as an encounter with the guards of PortLlast who wanted to avenge the deaths of the people there. The friend of Shandra Jerro was assuming it was him but he and Shandra managed to convince her that there was no way it was him. They also gained the aid of an elf woman named Nya who helped provide them with wyrmsage, a powder that would help them allow the dead to seek freedom and passage into the afterlife and prevent them from becoming Undead.

They did so and reached Ember, there they discovered Marcus still alive, he told them of what he saw during the attack on Ember, saying that he had truly seen the attacker who had used special magical powder to take Darren's appearance, he was in good hands and left to head to Port Llast but not before returning Bishop's Knife as well. Sand accompanied them and revealed that the bodies of the dead were killed also not by just blades but a by a very rare poison that was known to be used by Luskan assassins to kill their victims, and also a book from the quartermaster of the village detailing a sudden stop of supplies and goods from Luskan merely a week before the brutal attack that left Ember destroyed. This was proof that Luskan had knowledge of the attack and despite Ember being a village under their control, they let it happen anyway. They also managed to silence a blow hard braggart who claimed to have seen the whole thing to make sure that the Luskans would not use this to their advantage by blowing holes into his story, getting the truth, and then convincing him that the Luskans would be after him now to silence him, that was more than enough to cut the Luskans' chances of winning the trial.

He then spoke of his travels into the place known as Duskwood, a place of great trees that absorbed great amounts of magic and could even disrupt spells in combat as well as unleash wild magic. There they discovered a dryad who sought to bring the fall of Ember by aiding the attacker known as Lorne and his colleagues in their mission by giving them transformation powder to hide their true forms. They got the powder and dealt with her due to her evil nature as well as freeing the animals of the land from her corruptive influence, there they also fought with a pair of werewolves that sought to kill them in battle and turn them into either food or others like them.

They also found another ring from the Circle of Blades when they aided a number of goblins with a dark spider problem, he also mentioned meeting Kistrel as well, giving her the insect collection and gaining her aid, he also spoke of recovering the parts needed to reactivate the Blade Golem that they recovered in their mission to rescue Shandra previously. They gathered more than enough evidence to prove his innocence and they went back to Neverwinter and got the trial underway.

He told the audience before him of the time Torio did her best to discredit him and call him a killer and murderer to have him brought to Luskan to be dealt with by her employer named Black Garius and the Arcane Brotherhood, She had used all her tricks and Sand told him that Torio may look like a woman of the street but she was not ambassador of Luskan for nothing and she was sjarper than she looked. He knew that to be true once she went into action to have him seen as the murderer and killer he was framed to be. However, this was where he proved to everyone, including Sand that while he was a Weapon Master and a Fighter by nature, he was not merely a simple minded man from the Mere.

He patiently and methodically cut through Torio's arguments as well as presenting very solid and powerful ideas that proved to be quite effective and accurate in cutting down Torio's arguments, in his mind he silently thanked his foster father Daeghun for teaching him not just how to fight with weapons and with fists but with the mind as well. Daeghun had taught him history and lore, and Tarmas was also an excellent teacher, his foster father taught him that sometimes, steel and magic will fail, but words, intellect, and control would not. That lesson was proven true as he began to speak well.

He couldn't help but smile somewhat as he calmly and even gamely dissected Torio's claims as well as prove his own words that proved to be the key to breaking Torio's attacks, he soon had the audience eating out of his hand, much to the amazement and approval of Sand and to the dismay of Torio. It was then that they had the witnesses and his actions in convincing Alaine had worked out well and it was then that they brought in Callum who sided with them, there was a moment that Torio revealed sand's past as a former agent of the Arcane Brotherhood, but he was able to push through that with Callum aiding him. He had been a good friend and teacher to Shandra as well, allowing her to stand up and support him when both Sand and Torio brought her to the stand. Marcus himself came in and told the people what he saw, Torio tried to prove it as a sham but she too was easily defeated by Marcus due to the gift the boy had for not just seeing the future, but to also see past illusions.

Torio even tried to bring him up, but he was not easily angered by her actions, as he skilfully broke her attacks and fought back with very sharp yet effective attacks of his own that still had the crowd on his side as well as everyone else. At the end of the trial, he and Sand, as well as Nevalle and Nasher knew that he had won this trial, he was exonerated, but then had to deal with Torio calling both the right to trial by combat as well as having to face a former fellow West Harbour friend and resident, Lorne who was now the one who he was going to fight.

He accepted it and while he wished it was not Lorne he was going to fight as he was Bevil's elder brother, he could tell that the Lorne he knew was gone and before him was an agent of Luskan who had to be dealt with, it was hard, but he was not going to let all they had done mean nothing and let the people of Ember who died go to the afterlife without justice for their senseless deaths.

It was where Khelgar finally passed his last trial and was ready to become a monk of Tyr, and also where Elanee tried to make him run away with her to escape, but he stayed to fight on and deal with this threat and give justice as well as peace to those who died this day. The day he fought Lorne was tough, Lorne was always something of a brute and strong too, but he used his own considerable strength, guile, speed, agility, and patience to end him once and for all, he didn't kill Lorne, knowing that he was going to be dealt with by his master soon enough, but he heard Lorne say that he was the one who killed all the people of Ember. He made Lorne look at him and told him how disappointed he was with him and how he had tainted the name of his family and more...and he was going to pay for his crime soon enough.

He continued on with telling the people before him that after the trial how he and his comrades were called by Aldanon saying that he had discovered things of great importance. He and the others went back to Blacklake and managed to save Marshall Cormick from death when it was discovered that bandits and thieves under Garius' command had attacked the Sage's home and taken the Sage as well as hold the people who worked for Aldanon prisoner. He and his companions fought the thieves and their leader, and learned that key people of nobility who had been murdered before all were supposed to have held a shard in their possession and the last was a man named Tavorick. Darren and his comrades went there quickly and helped secure the place along with the aid of Captain Ballard and his small but highly trained elite force, they succeeded with minimal loss of life and escaped the fiends that attacked the estate as well as slaying a powerful demon in combat in the crypts, however this victory was marred when the shard itself was not in the noble's possession and in the hands of one of the Neverwinter Nine, a woman named Melia who Darren had seen before in the estate. She had hidden herself in the Moonstone Mask and they hurried there, only to find the place under attack by fiends, several were slain in the attack including Melia herself and there Darren met Ammon Jerro, though he and Shandra didn't know who he really was, the Warlock escaped and they had to accept defeat for now.

However, it was then that he was surprised that Luskan's new ambassador of Neverwinter, Sydney Natale had given them the location of Garius, at the ruined area of Crossroad Keep, he and the others of his party then moved on to attack the ruined area of Crossroad Keep with the Many Starred Cloak Wizards, where it was determined that a powerful ritual was being done by Garius. They fought their way there and caught the Luskan forces loyal to Garius completely off guard. They fought their way to Garius and slew him and his minions....or so he thought at the time, they also rescued Aldanon as well as an unknown being known as Zhjaeve.

Back in Neverwinter, after being told the truth of the of the Githyanki and Githzerai from both Aldanon and Zhjaeve as well as the meaning of the name given to him by the Githyanki of Kalach Cha, he was given command of Crossroad Keep and the surrounding lands of the Keep to follow the promise made by Nasher to grant him land due to having performed great deeds as a member of Neverwinter's nobility as well as becoming a Captain in the Greycloaks, which was Neverwinter's standing army. He also decided to spare Torio from the headman's axe, as despite the past he believed that someone of Torio's talents and skills could be able to do more service for good than evil.

Darren mentioned how he, Kana, Master Veedle and his workers began to refurbish the Keep and how Sal, the former bartender of his uncle's place took over the Inn that already was there in the Keep. He focused on the basics of the Keep such as the shops as well as the blacksmith shop, as soon as Torio arrived, she was surprised that he spared her life and was somewhat amused at his altruism, however, his thoughts on the matter proved to be accurate as she provided invaluable information on people who were of interest as well as information on Garius himself and on the Tome of Iltkazar.

As he gathered Veedle's workers to repair as much of the Keep as he could afford, he put forward all of his personal fortune plus the money he was given by Nasher and Nevalle went to the upgrading of the Keep itself, thankfully his considerable finances due to his adventures and trade work had given more than ample funds to do his best to work on the needs of the Keep. He also went out to gather viable officers and leaders to help him in making the Keep a good place for both military and mercantile ventures.

He managed to find two mining specialists to help with gathering raw materials for the needs of his people as well as the military, the half-orc Pentin and his fellow miners along with Calindra who was an expert in mining as well as forging metal ingots, he managed to convince Pentin to remain when he was not entirely content with the place, as he found new sources of ore, he told them of it to mine them and bring them back to the Keep for use. Apart from them he travelled to Fort Locke to gain the service of Jacoby the Weapon Smith, and also travelling to High Cliff to gain the service of Edario the Armour Smith, he then found Katriona, who was Casavir's second in command of Old Owl Well who made a good sergeant to train the men he would be getting later.

He even travelled to West harbour to hire an old friend named Orlen, who was considered a master farmer of the village, he would help organize the peasants as well as help with the management of the farms to provide food and supplies for all involved, he even hired a kbo9ld by the name of Deekin Scalesinger, who was famous for being the author and travelling companion of the heroes and allies of his many books. Along the way he managed to gain the aid of Guyven who would prove to be a valuable aid to the travels he would take as well as serve an invaluable guide in the time of fighting the foes that he would no doubt face. He also had Kistrel in his Keep who made his cloak as well and the giant spider was more than able to hold her own in the fight.

He then hired Daerred and his Troupe to handle assignments though Kana and the others wondered if he was mad for hiring a band of misfits, nevertheless he laughed at the letters sent to him when they came. He also allowed Uncus Riverdweller join despite being a member of the City Watch, knowing that despite having him there, the Shadow Thieves' resources and information could prove helpful.

As soon as he got his soldiers, he had Katriona train them well, he also asked Kana to recruit only the best into his Greycloaks, basing his decision on his personal experience as well as knowing that quality soldiers were better than quantity for sheer ability and skill, he also insisted that his Greycloaks be given the best weapons and armour money could buy, which was what Jacoby and Edario did for him. By the end of several days while waiting to gather more clues the Greycloak recruits he was given had reached a very high level as well as having better gear than even Neverwinter's own Greycloaks as well as being better trained, so much so that he forms the Captain's Company who he charged to protect the land and the people.

He used his money to improve not just the keep but also the roads and surrounding lands, to ensure that the lands were well maintained and routes were good for travel, he also had his soldiers divide their patrol duties for both the lands and roads, most would have considered the numbers of Greycloaks he had in his Keep and standing forces to be inadequate, but with their top notch training, weapons and armour, along with Katriona moving along with them, they were more than able to do their duties.

With the Keep running well and a large amount of revenue, trade, peasants, materials and recruits coming into his Keep as well as several accomplished missions that helped increase the standing of Crossroad Keep to the people, as well as gaining the alliances of two smaller villages who his forces aided in their time of need, he then focused of gathering the powers needed to fight the King of Shadows, he recounted his travels to the old Illefarn ruins of Arvahn to gather the power of the Ritual of Purification, several unique powers that would be the key apart from the Silver Sword of Gith that would end the threat of the King of Shadows forever.

He and his group arrived there, gaining the first half of the Ritual but not before dealing with more Orcs being led by Logram Eyegouger's brother. Darren managed to evade trouble from him through diplomacy and after dealing with the Bugbear leader through diplomacy, and killing the Ogre Mage as well as getting the power from the statue hidden in the first part of the ruins, he travelled then to the gem mines where he encountered a massive number of Undead and other golems, along with an Umbarhulk, he also met the spirits of the elves and dwarves who had helped create the Guardian, who was their weapon of defence against those who sought to harm Illefarn from it's foes, and how many of their allies and themselves died to try and stop the Guardian when it or rather he became the King of Shadows.

He convinced them to allow him to take the power of the Ritual there and he along with his party travelled to the Temple of Seasons to get the last of the powers of the Ritual there in Arvahn, passing through the trials and slaying many spirits beasts as well as warriors and golems along the way, eh gathered the last of the Ritual Pieces in Arvahn, he then gathered the treasures that he could find there, and left to get the other part of the Ritual.

But to his horror, the portal they took to get to the last part of the Ritual brought him to his home of West Harbour, now totally destroyed and the bodies of his friends and family there, he sought the ruins for anyone alive, including Bevil and his family, along with his foster father, but found no one at all, he saw the bodies there as well of Georg and many others. Shandra herself was saddened along with Elanee, Zhjaeve and Neeshka herself. He vowed to make the King of Shadows pay for this as they reached the area where the last statue was, only to find the power taken by another and the statue destroyed by a Shadow Reaver, a powerful Undead servant of the King of Shadows.

They fought the creature and it's guards but it was not dead, it fled and they decided to seek out answers in the Haven of Ammon Jerro, for only he had fought the King of Shadows before and also to re-forge the Silver Sword of Gith. After overseeing the needs of the Keep for the time, gathering new supplies and materials, along with training the men and outfitting them with the best weapons, and assured by Kana that it was running well, he took off, fighting Demons and Elementals as well as passing tests to enter the Haven from the outside, while gathering information for Guyven. He and the others however had lost Sandra the very second they had done what was needed, which was Shandra using her blood to open the gate, the grand daughter of Ammon Jerro had been teleported into the Haven.

As soon as they entered the place, they found several powerful Fiends and Devils who were either help or hindrance to their search for clues as well as finding Shandra. They saw Mephasm who already opened part of the gate and warned them of the danger Shandra was in. As they moved through the Haven they dealt with one demon by the name of Baalbisan who got Neeshka's ire and was too much a pest to be of much help, there was one Demon in particular had made Elanee angry, jealous, and somewhat fearful for his life, the Succubus Queen Blooden, leader of the Succubae that resided in the place. Blooden had attempted to seduce him and like a normal human, he was nearly taken in by it, as the Succubus Queen was quite a sight to say the very least, and she had even said that she had mated with men of all races, even Aasimar, and they always left a mess, she dared to see if he was different, appealing to his sense of manhood.

Thankfully he resisted the temptation and managed to compromise by getting the Balor Demon General Koraboros to send his minions to fight with her Succubae to relive the chaos of the Blood Wars, after doing so she supplied the true Name of Zaxis, another Fiend who he defeated before in battle to rescue Shandra from the Githyanki, and learning that the brutish creature was a she not a he as he and the others thought. Koraboros also contributed to the effort as he had found the lower level demon that the High ranking demon had as a servant.

He used the True name to force Zaxis to open the gate in her side and gave the name to the Erinyes leader Hezebel as part of his own bargain to open her own part of the gate. They entered the lab and there they fought who they thought was the King of Shadows but who was actually Ammon Jerro, they managed to beat him at first despite his power, but he came back and nearly destroyed them, until Shandra using her blood freed the Demons and Fiends trapped there in her grandfather's Haven to save them, she paid for her actions with her life as Ammon, angered beyond belief and unaware of what he was doing, slew his only family until he was told by Mephasm the truth when Shandra who knew him now apologized for what she had done as she died, they pursued him but instead of slaying Ammon, Darren spared him and Ammon allowed them to escape sadly leaving Shandra behind.

Afterwards, he spoke to Ammon about the thing that had happened and there he realized that the true King of Shadows was the Guardian of Illefarn, who after the ancient Netherese Mage Karsus tried to become the new God of Magic by taking the power of the former Goddess of Magic Mystryl to save his empire from falling to ruin, his action however backfired as all magic from the Weave failed and the Nethril Empire literally fell from the sky and although Mystrl sacrificed herself and was reborn in the mortal Mystra who took the place of the former Goddess as the new Goddess of Magic and three floating cities were saved, the Nethril Empire was no more, and in that moment, the Guardian who was tied to the Weave tapped into the Dark Weave, the evil form of the Weave, becoming an engine of death and turning into the King of Shadows, a dark mirror of his once noble mission to safeguard Illefarn. The King sought to destroy those who were seen as threats to the descendants of Illefarn in his own logic despite the fact his power was death to all life, therefore killing all he touched, he attacked the Githyanki and earned their wrath soon after.

This led to Ammon discovering his threat and being a warlock of amazing power as well as his extensive knowledge due to his studies, decided to take it upon himself to fight the King to save his family. He tried to gain aid from Neverwinter, but the nobles were too busy fighting and squabbling to be of much help to say the very least, so he made due making pacts with demons and travelling to the Nine Hells to gain the Silver Sword of Gith after being told by Nolaloth, a spirit of the great wyrm and a powerful crystal dragon who fell in battle to the King that only the Silver Swords of the Githyanki had the power to harm the King, along with the most effective being the Silver Sword of Gith itself. Ammon did so and his army of demons, devils and fiends fought the Undead hordes of the King in West Harbour, tearing the village to ruin, but when the warlock fought with the King's avatar known as the Nightwalker, his concentration was broken by the cry of a baby, who was Darren himself and the sword was shattered into shards with the main shard, known as the heart of the sword lodged in his chest soon after.

Afterwards, Darren was brought to Neverwinter to be given the title and rank of Knight for his efforts by Lord Nasher, but then the whole situation was brought to an end as the Shadow Reavers sent one of their own to attack the Castle with an army of Undead, including vampires. He and Nevalle along with the Royal Guards fought them and managed to find shelter with Nevalle guiding him to the underground chamber and labyrinth that hid the secrets of Castle Never. Darren spoke of the trials but never in full detail, only that he made it after passing the final test and gaining the Rod and Sword of Neverwinter, he arrived to aid Nasher who fought for his life with the Reaver, he saved Lord Nasher and became a Knight, and also a member of Nasher's elite guard, the Neverwinter Nine and decided to seek out allies and answers to fight the King of Shadows while Nasher gathered the Neverwinter Greycloak Army. He was also ordered to improve Crossroad Keep to make it powerful as Nasher felt it would be the key to the war with the King of Shadows.

Darren told his audience that he did so and established a Tower for the Neverwinter Nine and trained with Nevalle as well as gaining the services of the temple of Tyr. He also managed to gain the services of other officers, such as Bevil who he welcomed and helped move past the fall of West Harbour along with the Aasimar warrior Light of Heavens who he asked to train and recruit more Greycloaks into his Keep's ranks with Bevil serving as officer for road patrols. He also got the quest from the abbot Ivarr of the Temple of Tyr about a fierce red dragon that was a threat to all in the lands and had to be destroyed soon so as to gain help from the Gods of Light. He also hired Light of Heaven's twin sister Joy who really brought light and joy to the people in his Keep with her skills in dance, something that they approved of very well. He also dispatched half of his forces to Neverwinter to help the evacuation under Brelaina's request for aid. That might have depleted his forces, but with Light of Heavens helping recruit and train the new arrivals, that was not too much of an issue for the moment.

Along the way, he decided to gain the aid of the Lizardfolk of the Mere as they now know it was the King who drove the Lizardfolk from the Mere and they were skilled warriors as well as masters of fighting in the swamps of the Mere, but he then found them attacking High Cliff, much to his surprise but after learning about the visions that their highest ranking Shaman-Leader from Slaan who was opposed to this move, he sought to change their minds, he had no choice but to fight until he allowed the leader to see into his mind, learning that the King of Shadows was using him and his race as weapons. The Lizard folk vowed to fight the King and aligned with him and Neverwinter, something that was good in his book.

He then travelled to the Ironfist Clan stronghold after it was occupied by Khelgar's people, but they didn't gain a good reception as the leader Keros IronFist not only considered their previous alliance with the city of Neverwinter was useless but also wrong. Khelgar tried to reason with Keros, but was unsuccessful as Keros still held Khelgar in contempt as well as mistrust despite Khelgar becoming a monk of Tyr as well as a better person, he and Khelgar pondered their next move until Khulmar, the leader of the scouts that they met before and who had forgiven Khelgar after he and Darren found the Gauntlets of Ironfist spoke of the Belt of Ironfist after showing the fabled Hammer of Ironfist that they had found.

He then told Darren and their group as well as Khelgar that the only way to make their plan work was to recover the belt and then lift the Hammer. Khulmar then explained that by doing this, Khelgar would serve as leader of the Clan due to their traditions, turning the things Keros valued against him. It was a risk as the holders of the Belt were the Fire Giants who were longstanding foes of the Clan and were not to be underestimated for any reason, but a risk worth taking to gain the aid of the Ironfist Clan and the group travelled to the height of the Mountains, there they had to free several trapped people who were held prisoner by the Fire Giants as they made their way to the top of Mount Galardrym, but took a detour to use the boulders to cut down the numbers of the Fire Giants.

It was there however that he and his comrades stumbled unto the lair of the same Red Dragon that the abbot of the temple of Crossroad Keep had seen in his visions, the Red Dragon was female in voice and was named Tholapsyx, the Red Dragon was not something to take lightly as they were the most powerful of the Evil Dragons, their only equals or in this case, betters were the Golden Dragons who were the most powerful of the Good Dragons. The Red Dragon wasted no time to attack them and despite the power of the creature, he and his comrades were able to slay her, with him delivering the fatal killing strike. After the battle they took the horde of treasures that Tholapsyx, including powerful artefacts, scrolls, metal ingots as well as thousands upon thousands of gold coins and gems that he knew would be of great aid in the war to come.

They moved on with the Fire Giants and after defending Khelgar and his Clan from the arrogant Fire Giants, they slew them all and took the Belt as well as freeing a Drow Merchant named Caelryna Seerar who then joined them to serve as a shop keeper in his Keep, providing him with snew supplies along with Deekin's own contributions as well. After helping Khelgar and assuring him of his trust, the dwarf monk came back to take the test and sure enough, despite Keros' actions Khelgar proved victorious and was proclaimed leader, despite Keros' disbelief on the matter. However, Khelgar didn't take the position as others thought, he had learned enough being a monk as well as his own experiences in his time with him. Khelgar gave back the position to Keros and told his former enemy he was right about him, but he had changed and now was time to fight against the threat of the King of Shadows.

With that success, they took Grobnar's own quest to find the fictional Wendersnaven, and though it seemed like a waste of time, the Kazoo that Grobnar found was indeed powerful in it's own right as it amplified Grobnar's powers and that was a good thing in his eyes.

It was not long before he ran into his foster father again and while Daeghun was the same as before he was happy to see his foster father alive and while Daeghun didn't show it, he could tell that his foster father was proud of his efforts and there informed him and Elanee that he had seen the Circle of the Mere, when he was on duty as a scout for the Neverwinter Greycloaks. Elanee was elated and despite Bishop's words, he agreed that gaining the aid of the Druids would be helpful indeed. Elanee was happy for his support as he gathered his other companions for the task.

Sadly the meeting ended badly as they discovered that the Circle had been corrupted by the influence of the King of Shadows, believing that the King was helping the land reclaim what it once had and it was in the natural order to things, they had also imprisoned Naevan, the leader of their circle and mentor to Elanee in a tree when he refused to go along with them, they also accused Elanee of getting too attached to him who they wanted her to watch and observe and said her thoughts and feelings for him were too personal, they tried to make her side with them. However she refused and while he knew it broke her heart as well as his own, he and the others slew the corrupted Druids and free Naevan.

Naevan saw that Elanee would not leave him and it was for the best, with that in mind, he gave her his best wishes and left to do what he could for the Mere. It was a lost cause, but he hoped that after the war, things would heal for the land of Faerun soon enough. Nolaloth sought freedom after being bound to the land of the living by his soul being imbued in a crystal heart of immense size as well

Darren then spoke of the arrival of Sydney Natale' aide, a snivelling coward of a man named Kharlver Irlingstar who informed them that they had recovered the True Names of the Shadow Reavers who were one Black Garius and his fellow conspirators who had been transformed into the servants of the King of Shadows. They had a feeling it was a trap when she requested only Zhjaeve and Qara to be part of the group, but it was too important to ignore and went there. As soon as they arrived and Zhjaeve was able to speak the Names of the Shadow Reavers, Sydney unleashed her trap as she planned to capture Zhjave and gain power and fame by killing the Reavers themselves and sent the Animus Elemental to kill them all, but Qara fought back and destroyed it forcing Sydney to rely on more conventional methods. However, he had been able to convince her body guard of Jalhoun of the Two Blades to side with him in promise of a reward and after defeating the assassins, gave him the job of working in his Keep.

As soon as they got back to the Keep, they decided to gather all the shards to re-forge the Sword and that meant hunting down a Shadow Reaver to get the shards, they knew it was risky but it was the only option that they had at the moment, fortunately they were able to do so and there they tested using the True Names on the Shadow Reavers, it proved to be a powerful asset, but it required them to defend the casters were to make sure that they were able to use the True Names, which was why he gave a copy of the scrolls to both Ammon and Zhjaeve to even their chances in battle. They recovered the shards, while they didn't have the key shard, they had enough to reform the Sword so they returned to the Keep after gathering the artefacts that they could get from the ruined form of the Reaver.

They managed to rebuild a very large army as well as add the treasure horde of Tholapsyx to their coffers, ensuring that they had more than enough money to handle anything they needed, also the Keep had flourished as peasants and merchants came by the hundreds, sending gold and more to the Keep, much to his happiness as well as that of Nevalle who watched his progress, as soon as they were done with the basic operations of the Keep, they moved out to reform the Silver Sword of Gith, but the only one who could answer such a question as the soul of the Crystal Dragon Nolaloth.

Ammon spoke of the Crystal Dragon and replied that due to the past history between him and the spirit of the Dragon it would be dangerous for him to come along. He gathered Elanee, Khelgar, Zhjaeve Casavir and the Construct for this and as soon as they arrived, they were able to fight off the creatures were there except when they saw the two Black Dragons, who while weaker than Tholapsyx' kind, were deadly in their own right. As they arrived Nolaloth was less than welcoming and was about to ignore them outright until he mentioned the return of the King of Shadows, at that moment the ghost of the Crystal Dragon was back and eager to tell how to end his long time foe and told them that to re-forge The Silver Sword of Gith, it had to be brought to the very same place where it was shattered so long ago and the will of the user must then forge it anew.

The last thing the Crystal Dragon asked was to kill him by shattering his heart and grant him the freedom of death from his long life of being bound in the worth, moved to pity and sympathy for the long suffering spirit, he agreed and despite the arrival of the Black Dragons to shield the heart of Nolaloth, he and his comrades defeated them and destroyed the heart freeing the Crystal Dragon's soul and sending it to the afterlife. They travelled back to Arvahn and then took the portal to West Harbour as it was the place where the sword was shattered.

There they had to fight with the corrupted spirits that plagued the land that was once his home and free the innocent soul of the last of Bevil's family, as soon as they arrived at the site where the Silver Sword of Gith was shattered, they began to ritual with Zhjaeve providing aid for the ritual, as soon as it was done, he held the Silver Sword of Gith in his hand for the first time, feeling the power of the blade as he held it close to him and then they encountered yet another Shadow Reaver and a rather arrogant one who summoned Golems and fire Elementals to attack them, he and his group fought back, eliminating the forces surrounding them and protecting Zhjaeve as she spoke the True Name and with the Silver Sword of Gith he sloew yet another. After gathering what he could from the fallen Reaver, they headed back to Crossroad Keep and knew that it was time for war to hit their shores.

As he got back he did what he could and turned down a request from Kana to draft the farmers to war to add extra soldiers to fight, Katriona agreed with his decision and he explained to Kana that he made an oath to defend the people, and by drafting them to fight, he would be betraying that oath, he was not going to sacrifice the very people he sought to save, making her admire him even more as they readied themselves for what was to come.

As they got the keep ready, they rushed to help the Neverwinter forces at Highcliff and were too late and watched as Callum fell in battle, they gathered together and attacked the Shadow Reaver, yet another one who was arrogant in his belief he would not die easily, the others and he slew the forces the Reaver had under his command and then used the True Name to end the Reaver's life just as Nevalle arrived on the scene, they paid their respects to Callum and gathered what they could from the Reaver's remains to put to good use, when that was now over, they got ready for the war.

Darren mentioned how he, Grobnar, and Casavir were out to destroy the bridges to delay the attacking forces of Black Garius, they fought there until they set up the traps to end the bridges with the aid of his foster father Daeghun, however the situation changed when Black Garius, now a Shadow Reaver himself attacked them with his powers to increase the strength and ability of his Undead horde, it was only the arrival of Daeghun and his allies that they escaped the death trap.

As soon they got back, they were able to rest, as well as his meeting with Elanee, though he kept the rest of the events private, though he could have sworn that Arwen seemed to smile a bit more at the mention of that. Darren spoke of how he was able to help Ammon defeat Koraboros in the farm that Shandra owned he spoke seriously with Ammon about Shandra's time with them as well as her life, this made the warlock realize how wrong actions were and he asked for forgiveness from Shandra and as if by fate the warlock found the pendant that Shandra owned and wore it as they went back to Crossroad Keep.

He then recounted the desperate defence of the Keep after they got word of the advancing army that had marched the whole night to them, as well as the Neverwinter Army was defeated with Lord Nasher staying at the keep to rest with Nevalle as security for the injured Lord of Neverwinter as they awaited support from the Lords' Alliance. Darren spoke of the defence of the walls and the destruction of the Assault Towers that tried to scale the walls as his men early that morning, their Lizardfolk allies and Dwarf comrades fought with all they had. They succeeded and then directed their attention to the gates, but then Bishop betrayed them and allowed the horrors in before they could mount a good defence. They fought for their lives and when Black Garius came, all seemed lost as the Undead kept up the attack until the morning, but with the use of the True Name Scrolls and the Silver Sword of Gith, they defeated the Nightwalker in battle with him facing the horror on his own while Ammon and Zhjave attacked with the True Name Scrolls to finally end Garius' invincibility, with the fall of the Nightwalker and Garius leaving the field, the Undead army's protection from the sun failed and they were destroyed.

Darren and the others then gathered as they were informed by Aldanon that he was able to lcate the lair of the King of Shadows, they knew that as long as the King's power of death and shadow Magic surrounded his lair, he could rebuild and gather another army while they could be unable to attack, the sage then said he could create a portal to send them into the location without tripping the defences or exposing them to the power there and they could strike at the heart of the King's power base.

It was a risk but they knew that it was their only chance to end this once and for all, as soon as they arrived in the old Illefarn ruins, they fought past numerous Undead horrors, evaded traps and more but had lost Neeshka as well. As soon as they arrived to the site which was the heart of the fortress, they saw Neeshka and treated her wounds. But that was when Garius appeared alongside his Golem guards and Bishop, the found out about Bishop's pas. The Shadow Reaver tried to convince others to betray him, such as Neeshka who he had placed a geas on, Sand and Qara due to their rivalry, Ammon by resurrecting Shandra, and of course Grobnar with his words to Bishop about the Blade Golem. However it was not successful, Neeshka fought the geas and freed herself vowing to make Garius pay for it, Grobnar carried a secondary override set of commands for the Golem frustrating Bishop, and Ammon was not swayed and vowed to kill Garius for using his grand daughter's life and soul as a bargaining chip, only Qara sided with Garius as she felt that they all held her back, much to Sand's expectations as he stayed with them.

The battle proved to be difficult as the Shadow Reaver used shields to hold them off but they broke through and finally slew him, facing the King of Shadows who unleashed a horde of Nightwalkers on them all, they fought for their lives and managed to use the Ritual of Purification to defeat the Nightwalkers and then when the real King of Shadows appeared and spoke briefly, they fought the massive giant before them using the renewed Ritual of Purification and the Silver Sword of Gith and attacking the portal to prevent the King from escaping, with the portal gone and the King of Shadows slain it was over.

He spoke of their escape from the falling ruins and how Sand used a portal and somehow, he came here to this world and then made his way to Weathertop.

--------

All the while, the audience listened well, Bilbo recorded all this well and wrote all that he heard, amazed that there were worlds beyond Middle Earth . Aragorn was impressed by the story as he thought about how much Darren had gone through ever since that day his village was attacked. The two brothers Elladan and Elrohir were also interested though they remained silent on the matter though they and Aragorn were impressed at hearing that he had faced such creatures in combat and survived them all, this told them that Darren was truly a warrior of great skill and ability. To have slain such horrors at his age and survive such trialswas a mark of a great warrior.

Elrond and Gandalf were deep in thought and Bilbo was writing it all down quickly and as best he could. Darren finished and decided to rest as the memories of those times came back to him. After a few minutes, Elrond spoke to him with a serious but respectful air.

"You have faced many perils for one so young Darren Kell, and you have survived them as well, now I must ask as to how you came here."

Darren nodded and told them his visions when he was in the portal seeing the Gods of Light that he worshipped as a young boy and also his seeing the events of Middle Earth, much to the shock and amazement of those who were listening, as he finished he spoke to Elrond and Bilbo.

"I saw you there Lord Elrond, fighting in the very plains of Mordor with the elves under your command, I saw how the king of men tried to face Sauron in battle and died....I saw how Isildur took his father's sword which was broken and cut the hand of Sauron, defeating him."

"I see....what else did you see Darren Kell?"

"I saw how Isildur had that one chance to end Sauron's power forever, but the Ring twisted him and made him keep it....eventually betraying him to his death, I saw how time passed and the Ring then was taken by the creature Gollum and turned him into a wretched beast, poisoning his mind and turning him into a monster while waiting for it's creator to return."

Darren nodded the somber and sad way Aragorn looked and wondered what was it that troubled the Ranger, but he waited for the right time to ask that question and continued.

"It was there that I saw you Bilbo Baggins when you took the Ring from Gollum's cave..."

"Oh my..."

Gandalf thought it over, clearly powers beyond had sent this young man to their realm for what end the elderly Wizard had no idea at the moment but there was no doubt that they meant for him to aid them in this hour and to have someone of Darren's skill and ability would be very much welcomed though he felt that it was up to Darren to decide if he so wished to aid them in this trying time. As they considered his words, he decided to speak to Darren.

"You appear to be rather tired my young friend....I believe it would be best that you had something to eat."

Darren nodded at that and replied.

"I could sure use some food, but if it's all right by Lord Elrond's leave, Rivendell is his relam after all."

Elrond smiled gently at that and spoke.

"Very well, my sons will escort you to our dining hall so you can eat, there is still much to discuss as well."

As he left he was escorted by the two brothers and it was there that he spoke to them, trying to make some sense of who they were, it was then that he learned of their own lives here in Rivendell, how they had been with their mother and their family. They asked him about his own parentage and Darren told them of how much he knew, he told them that like his foster father Daeghun, his mother was an adventurer, in fact both she and Daeghun were in the same group along with Duncan himself.

This amused the two elf siblings until he mentioned that when the group had ended, only his mother, Daeghun and Duncan were left of the original band, he spoke of how Daeghun and his wife settled in West Harbour while his mother carried on with her travels, until she eventually returned to the village with him, though he never knew his father. When the brothers asked him of what happened to his mother, Darren sighed as they arrived in the dining hall, he was provided food and some drink and after he had been able to eat, he replied that his mother...died trying to save him, when Ammon and the Nightwalker fought that night, the Silver Sword shattered and the heart shard pierced his mother from behind and killed her while it was then imbedded in his chest. The only memory he had was his mother's smile as she rocked him to sleep, and that was it.

Elladan and Elrohir gave him sympathietic looks and then told him how their and Arwen's mother had suffered she was waylaid by Orcs and even after being healed could no longer bear to live in Middle Earth and left for the Grey Havens to travel to Aman. Darren asked what it was and they said it was supposedly the deathless shores where the realm of their Gods were along with those of their race that travelled to when they grew weary of Middle Earth, when he hasked if they were going there themselves someday, he saw them look sadly and decided to halt his questioning of the two brothers.

It was then that Gandalf arrived and asked him if he would like to meet Frodo Baggins who had just recovered from his ordeal..

--------

In Frodo's room...

Frodo woke up and couldn't but feel a lot better for some reason as he felt the pain fade, he recalled seeing a male elf speaking to him in the elvish tongue and he felt himself coming back from his nightmares in the time he had been stabbed by the Ring Wraith on Weathertop.

"Good to see you up and about my boy."

"W-Where am I?"

"You are in Rivendell Frodo, you were lucky this time."

Frodo smiled as he found Gandalf before him and they two spoke for a bit longer and he asked why Gandalf was not at the Inn of the Prancing Pony in Bree where he was supposed to meet them, Gandalf replied that he was....delayed. Frodo had a feeling that there was more to this matter than he could see. It was then that another man walked in and he was someone that Frodo did not recognize. He wore a tunic of some sort that was blue of various light and dark shades with a fierce eye in the middle of it's front.

Darren looked Frodo over seriously evaluating the Halfling, he could see a great deal of strength there, the kind of strength born out of living a good and strong life, he could see traces of being a rascal there as well as a desire to learn all there was about the outside world. He had a feeling that Frodo would fit right in well enough in his home of West Harbour.

The Weapon Master felt some pain in his heart as he thought of his home in the Mere, he had left with the shards of the Silver Sword of Gith under his uncle's direction to save his village, and he visited it every now and then to see it safe, but then...

He shook his head mentally and thought of other things

Frodo himself stared at the red haired man who wore a blue tunic with a burning and fierce looking eye, he had never recalled meeting him before in his life and he couldn't help but feel some level of unease at the way Darren was looking at him. The Weapon master finally spoke to the Halfling.

"So you are Frodo Baggins...It's good to meet you at last."

"Excuse me kind sir....but how?"

"Do I know your name? Gandalf told me and so did Lord Elrond."

The Wizard nodded to Frodo and he spoke to the Hobbit.

"You need not worry about Knight Captain Darren Kell Frodo, he means you no harm, in fact, it was he who came to your aid in battle when you and the others fought with the Ring Wraiths."

Frodo looked at Darren as the Weapon Master looked at him seriously as the man smiled a bit more and replied.

"You want more details on that, you can ask Sam who I have no doubt is already on his way here to see you."

Sure enough, Sam came in and the Hobbit smiled brightly at the sight of his Master and good friend up and about once more and looking a great deal better than he was before. Sam and Frodo were happy to see the other and assured by Elrond who arrived that he was well enough to move about Rivendell, he decided to find the others.

--------

Later...

After being reunited with Pip and Merry, Frodo was able to see Bilbo who was much aged now, as without the ring in his hands, the elderly hobbit smiled at seeing Frodo and they shared their tales as they looked at one of the books that Bilbo had written, they talked about the Shire in the maps of the book and then the young Hobbit decided to speak to his elderly uncle.

"Uncle Bilbo, have you ever met a man named Darren?"

Bilbo smiled at his adopted heir and spoke to him.

"I take it you've met Knight Captain Darren Kell, Frodo my lad?"

Frodo nodded.

"Yes, I have never met him before in my life, but Gandalf says that I owe him my life...."

"That you do lad."

"Who is he?"

Bilbo smiled at that and replied.

"That lad is a very long story, for one thing, he is not of our world?"

"He's not?"

"Yes, in fact he comes from a place called Faerun, and there he is a hero of great reputation."

--------

In Elrond's study...

Elrond looked at Frodo while he and Gandalf were resting, thinking about the things that they had to decide on doing now that the Ring was here in Rivendell, it was then that they were greeted by Darren Kell himself who looked to where they were looking at, seeing Frodo with Sam.

"And so he walks again in full strength. He has managed to survive the Morgul Blade wound."

Gandalf barely nodded and replied.

"But he will never fully heal, that wound will remain with him all his life."

Gandalf then turned to Darren and replied.

"Just as you carry that scar and the name of Kalach Cha I believe Darren."

Darren nodded at that and replied.

"That is a burden I am willing to accept."

Both Elrond and Gandalf nodded as the Elf lord spoke seriously.

"And yet to have made this far from home, carrying the Ring, and not being taken instantly by it, the young Frodo has shown considerable resilience to it's evil powers."

Gandalf and Darren followed Elrond as the Wizard spoke seriously.

"It is a burden than one such as him should not bare; we cannot ask anything more of Frodo."

Darren agreed as he had seen that Frodo was too kind and gentle a person, one who was not ready to carry the burden of such an evil task for one so young, at least by Halfling standards, However he could tell that something of great importance weighed heavily on Elrond's mind, he had a feeling that it had something to do with the Ring itself.

Elrond confirmed his thoughts as he spoke.

"Gandalf, the Enemy is moving, Sauron's eye is fixed here at Rivendell, and you tell me that Saruman had betrayed us....our list of allies is growing thin."

"Who is Saruman?"

Gandalf turned to Darren and answered that question.

"Saruman is the same as I am Darren Kell, he is a Wizard and long ago we were friends, he was the oldest and wisest of our order, and had studied the works of Sauron well, he was also the head of the White Council long ago. Now I fear that he has changed, I fear he seeks to become a Power himself, I believe that he had studied Sauron's works too long and now seeks to surpass Sauron and become a Lord of Middle Earth, he has lost sight of why he and those like us were sent here. He now works for Sauron and his treachery has run much deeper than before."

Darren looked at Gandalf's face and seeing the emotions there spoke.

"Exactly how did Saruman betray the White Council?"

The Wizard looked at both him and Elrond as he recalled what he had seen when he had been held prisoner by Saruman, his old friend and now a traitor to the cause they had come to serve so long before. He recalled the disfigurement of the once beautiful lands of Isengard and spoke seriously.

"He's crossed Orcs with Goblins and men, he's breeding an army of Orcs that could cover greater distances and speed than regular Orcs and most of all, they can tolerate sunlight."

This was enough to trouble Elrond greatly, it had always been a mark of the creatures born of the darkness to fear the light, but to face such horrors who no longer feared light was something that the elves could not withstand alone.

"This new power cannot be kept in check by the Elves....we do not have the strength to fight both Mordor and Isengard as hide the Ring itself."

Darren knew that Elrond had a point, to be besieged by two armies, one who could attack at night and another to attack at daybreak without pause would bring down most fortresses and the mere thought of this place falling to Sauron was something he was not keen on seeing. He could tell Gandalf knew it too though he was very reluctant to accept it, no doubt due to his friendship with Frodo.

Elrond saw it as well and spoke seriously.

"The Ring cannot stay here in Rivendell Gandalf...."

Darren then replied.

"Forgive me for speaking Lord Elrond....but if it cannot be hidden, then it must be destroyed."

Elrond nodded at that and replied.

"True... once the Ring is destroyed it will end Sauron and it's evil....but it will not be easy. The only place where the Ring can be destroyed is in the fiery chasm where Sauron forged it, the very heart of Mount Doom itself, and we no longer have the forces needed to fight our way to that accursed mountain, the war you saw that we waged with Sauron so long ago was the true last Alliance of Men and Elves here on Middle Earth, now the younger races of Middle Earth must decide how to meet this threat. They are coming here already to discuss the matters before them, they will be here in time."

Darren then spoke.

"Then they won't do it alone."

Elrond and Gandalf looked at him seriously as the Wizard spoke.

"You wish to fight with us Darren?'

"The Gods Tyr, Ilmater and Torm sent me here for a reason Sir Gandalf, at first it made no sense to me, but now I know, I will help you and those you choose to deal with the threat of Sauron and the One Ring once and for all."

Elrond then spoke.

"You realize that this is not your war Darren Kell, I cannot ask you to fight in this war."

"You do not need to Lord Elrond, I know the risks involved in taking this path, besides, I have a feeling that Sauron and Saruman's ambitions will not end with just the conquest of Middle Earth. Just as the King of Shadows attacked the Githyanki in it's desire to defend Illefarn from all those it deems as threats to it, if they find a way to open portals to other worlds...including mine, they will want to conquer it as well. There are evil Gods in my world as well as evil beings, all too eager to conquer and enslave others and take life, if Sauron gains them as allies, then my world will fall forever to evil, Neverwinter has lost much when the King of Shadows attacked the lands and there is a great deal and they are no doubt trying to recover, to suddenly be attacked by this new threat is something my world is not ready for at the moment. That is why I will not let Sauron win, I will fight for my realm and my world, of that you can be assured of."

The Elf Lord nodded and so did Gandalf as the elderly Wizard spoke.

"You speak truth Sir Darren, this may well be why you're Gods sent you here."

Elrond nodded a bit and spoke.

"Very well then, but you cannot do it alone. This threat as I have said belongs to all the young races of Middle Earth. The time of the Elves is soon coming to an end; my people will leave Middle Earth's shores forever, who then will they turn to when we are gone?"

Elrond looked at both Gandalf and Darren.

"The Dwarves? They hide in their mountain halls seeking treasures and riches; they care nothing for the fates of others."

"Then it is to Men that we must place our hope."

Elrond was not the least bit thrilled with the words that Gandalf spoke as they reached deeper into his study.

"Men? Men are weak."

Darren took some level of offense to that and replied.

"Forgive me for sounding...offended Lord Elrond, but what makes you say Men are weak?"

"I do not mean to offend you Darren Kell; you are no weak man after all you have dealt with ever since you left your village in the Mere as you call it. I speak of the Line of Men here in Middle Earth, their race is failing, the once proud line of Numenor is thinned greatly, nearly spent, they have fallen far from the nobility, wisdom, and strength. Their pride and dignity forgotten. It is because of Men that the Ring survived..."

"You refer to the time that Isildur had that one chance to end Sauron's power forever?"

"Yes....when Isildur took the Ring in his hands, he had that one chance to end evil forever, I guided him to Mount Doom to destroy it, but I watched as he began to admire that loathsome thing, and even as I begged him to end it all, to make the deaths of so many of his men and my elven kin as well as that of his father King Elendil mean something good in the end, to destroy it to free Middle Earth from Sauron's evil forever, he refused and left, it should have ended that day, but evil was allowed to live and endure....I could only watch helplessly as the strength of men failed...."

"I see....I can understand your words then, but that does not mean that all men here are weak."

Elrond closed his eyes to banish the memories of that day and continued to speak seriously.

"There is truth there in what you say Darren Kell, regardless what happened three thousand years ago cannot be undone no matter how much I wish it had been. Isildur took the ring and with that act, he broke the line of the Kings of Men. There is no longer any strength left in men, the race of men here in Middle Earth now is scattered, divided, and leaderless."

Gandalf spoke seriously.

"There is one who can unite them, and reclaim the throne of Gondor."

Elrond gave a sad look.

"He turned down that path long ago, he has chosen exile."

"Who is this man you speak of Sir Gandalf?"

"He is the very same Ranger you met in Weathertop Darren."

Darren raised an eyebrow at that as he thought of Aragorn.

"You speak of Strider, or should I call him Aragorn instead?"

"Yes, Strider is Aragorn, Chieftain of the last of the Dunedain, the Heir to the Throne of Gondor, and the last of the heirs of Elendil and Isildur. He was taken here in Rivendell when he was young and grew up here under the guardianship of Lord Elrond. If Sauron found out that the Heir of Elendil still lived, he would stop it nothing to hunt Aragorn down and kill him."

"But if that is the case, then Aragorn is related to Isildur....no wonder he reacted somewhat to the time I spoke of what I saw."

Gandalf nodded.

"Yes...Aragorn believes that because his ancestor Isildur allowed Sauron to survive due to the temptation of the Ring, then he will fall to it's power as well."

Darren shook his head and replied.

"The sins of the past cannot always affect the future, Aragorn may be the descendant of Isildur, but he is not Isildur himself, it is his choice now to either repeat that event or denounce the Ring make his own choices. I understand his fears in that regard, but he is himself, he can decide for himself after all."

Gandalf smiled and even Elrond gave a slight nod.

"That we still must see....for now, Aragorn is still in exile."

--------

Midday...

As he walked through the halls, the Weapon Master was deep in thought as well as trying to find an answer to what he should be doing now, knowing that what he saw was not some form of illusion was more than enough to make him wonder what he would do now, he knew that he was more than able to hold his own in a fight, but he knew that he couldn't win this battle on his own. He had already swore to himself to help them in this time, but he wished that he had help in battle as he thought of his companions once more.

Darren hoped that they were alive and safe somewhere where he could find them, but yet he had not seen any of them at this moment so the best he could do was hope that they were alive somewhere. It was then that he heard his name being called and turned to see Arwen walking to him. He stopped and bowed towards the elf woman.

"Lady Arwen..."

Arwen herself bowed to Darren showing the level of respect she knew he deserved for doing the things that he had done over the course of his life which still made her feel amazement that he was able to survive all of the battles in question. As soon as she was done she spoke to Darren using the noble title that he was given due to his efforts by Lord Nasher.

"You seem to be occupied in your thoughts Sir Darren."

"I am, I was thinking about my friends and wondering if they made it back, or are here as well."

Arwen smiled a bit at that, she then decided to ask Darren something of importance.

"When you were speaking about your past, I saw you speak of the one Druidess named Elanee, she is special to you isn't she?"

Darren was about to speak but decided that words along would never convey the feeling he had and he nodded at that and then spoke.

"Yes, she was very important to me."

"You loved Elanee, correct?"

"Yes....why have you brought this up Lady Arwen?"

Arwen smiled at that and she decided to reveal just why she had smiled at the time that he had mentioned Elanee' name to the rest of his audience. She then asked Darren to accompany her to one of the larger gardens in Rivendell, Darren wondered why he was being brought here and spoke out this concern to Arwen.

"Where are we going Lady Arwen?"

Arwen however replied in a very relaxed and simple way.

"You will see, there is someone here who you might....recognize."

Darren was still confused as they reached the garden and then Arwen stepped aside to allow Darren to see into the interior of the garden, he looked and was shocked to see a badger of all things in the garden, normally such things would have appeared to be normal in places like Rivendell, considering it's beauty and location all places, but he recognized the badger as Naloch, the animal familiar of...

He was then greeted by a sight he thought he would never see, an elven woman dressed in a simple and soft looking but regal set of robes of the softest earth brown and light leaf green, they were quite different from Arwen's own choice of dress but they worked to make the wearer more attractive. Darren had no trouble recognizing the high cheek bones, the slight coppery tone of the woman's pale skin that made it glisten, her height, frame and build, the same eyes, and the fine but soften tangled copper coloured hair. He knew that before him was a female Wood Elf, and not just ANY wood elf either.

"Elanee?!"

Darren couldn't believe his eyes, Elanee was alive, very much alive! He couldn't help but be stunned for a minute or two and it seemed that he was now glued to the floor of the hall. The woman turned and she too was shocked as she gasped as she looked right at him, and then she moved up to him quickly and without any warning, she kissed him deeply and passionately. This was more than enough to wake Darren up and tell him that this was no illusion or trick.

He reacted as he hugged Elanee close to him and relished the feel of holding his beloved Druidess in his arms as well as getting her scent into his senses, while the others commented that Elanee didn't always take a bath every now and then, he didn't mind that much, knowing that she was Druidess after all. The Weapon Master held his beloved Druidess close as they continued their deep kiss, and as soon as they parted, Elanee hugged him back while laying her head on his shoulder, and for the first time he had known her, Elanee cried, her tears flowing down her face and staining his Neverwinter Nine Tunic. He then heard her speak.

"I thought I lost you...."

Darren smiled and he ran his hands on her hair and her back, trying his best to comfort Elanee and assure both her and himself that this was real.

"You won't lose me..."

It was then that both Elanee and Darren remembered that they were not alone here and they turned to see Arwen smiling at them and Darren blushed at this while Elanee seemed to be a bit calmer now, her stoic and calm self reappearing once more. Arwen however spoke to them calmly, she had seen the love and happiness there when the two were together and therefore held her silence as she watched them.

"It is all right Sir Darren, Lady Elanee, I have to take leave of the two of you since there are some other matters I must attend to."

Both nodded and as Arwen left them alone in the garden, Elanee turned and hugged Darren once more, losing her calm and stoic attitude only in his presence. Darren appreciated that as they stayed close to one another for a bit longer and they even kissed once more as they sat down on a nearby bench as Naloch moved over to his mistress and summoner as Elanee looked to her loved one Darren had many questions in his mind, that much she could see at this moment and she was more than ready to tell him all that he needed to know.

"Elanee....how did you come to this place?"

Elanee smiled as she replied.

"That is a story in itself Darren..."

--------

Flashback...

Elanee shook her head as she found herself lying on the ground with her Elven Ceremonial Armour still on her as well as her Astral Sword, The Bow of the Elven Court, and the Mirror Shield on her back as well as her quiver of arrows. The Wood Elf managed to get up and take her bow and began to scan the surroundings around her to see exactly where she was at the moment.

The Wood Elf had gone through the portal and amazingly saw the very same things that Darren himself had seen as well as the very Goddess she had worshipped all her life as she was no here.

She readied herself by notching an arrow to her bow when several odd but fierce looking creatures came and they spoke to each other as they gazed at her.

"Look here lads, an elf maid...."

"Come, let's have some fun carving her flesh!!!"

Elanee held her own as she looked at them, whatever they were, she could see them as foul beings, resembling the Orcs of Faerun, but she could sense something else there as well, something more evil then before. She calmed herself and fired several arrows right at them, taking down the others while the rest came at her.

Seeing that she needed more time she cast a spell.

The Orcs were shocked for a moment as the roots below their feet suddenly came alive and wrapped around their feet, holding them in place and not allowing them to leave the battle field just yet. They roared at Elanee as she calmly fired several more arrows into their ranks, the spell held on until the Druidess began to run out of mana and the spell failed.

The Orcs howled and charged at her as Elanee placed aside her bow and readied her sword and shield, ready to hold her own, she vowed to never give up and find Darren and she was not going to let these, Orcs stop her despite her own confusion as to why they seemed different from regular Orcs. The Druidess blocked several attacks from the short scimitars of several of the Orcs with her Mirror Shield and struck back with her Astral Sword, cutting down three while wounding two others.

She held her own for a bit more until several Orcs armed with bows attacked her, firing a distance, one arrow she blocked with her shield and the other grazed the armour she had on, The Orcs were now coming in larger numbers, Elanee knew that she couldn't fight all them by herself, she reached down into her own pouch and removed several flasks of Thunderstones and tossed the weapons into the Orcs' ranks, the blast was enough to break their attacks and allow her to escape by taking the form of a Dire Wolf and moved through the lands, as soon as she was clear of them and could not smell their presence, she formed back to her natural shape and moved on.

The battle was exhausting as she was still trying to find the others, but despite her success, it seemed that the Orcs were not giving up as she managed to block several arrows with her shield once more until an Orc tackled her from the side, the foul beast roared at her but she pushed him off her and stabbed him right in the guts with her short dagger the Courtesan Blade, she moved away and found herself surrounded until several horns were heard and then arrows that were not the same fired by the Orc archers tore into the Orcs and several elves came to her rescue.

Elanee was exhausted by this and was then greeted by none other than Arwen herself along with her brothers.

--------

End of Flashback...

"And that's how I came here, Lady Arwen and her brothers brought me here to rest and recuperate and before she left Arwen and I spoke about who I was and where I had come from, and I....I mentioned you."

"Me?"

"Yes, I asked if they had found you, and they replied no, so I stayed here, hoping to hear some news if you had survived."

Darren nodded and thought about Arwen's smile to him when he mentioned Elanee's name when she and her family along with Aragorn, Bilbo, and Gandalf had heard his tale.

"No wonder Lady Arwen smiled when I mentioned your name."

Elanee smiled and the two spent time together as they knew that things were very much new to them, by Arwen's leave, they toured Rivendell and Elanee marvelled at the beauty of the land and seeing the ties to nature that the elves here had t the land despite the fact that they used wood and stone no doubt to make their homes, she marvelled at the gardens most of all as Darren could well see in the twinkling in Elanee's green eyes.

As time came, it seemed that night was coming upon them all, Darren knew that the next day, the representatives of the younger races of Middle Earth were going to meet soon. He and Elanee spoke to one another about what they had seen and Elanee was told of what they were about to walk into as they were in a nearby open air court hall to view the land of Rivendell before them. Darren knew that his next line of words were not going to sit well with his beloved Druidess as she was not in favour of what she felt was foolish actions. However, like before, Elanee beat him to the draw so to speak.

Elanee turned to her beloved and after looking deeply at her lover's face spoke seriously.

"I know that look you have Darren, you wish to help them fight this one being known as Sauron don't you?"

Darren nodded and Elanee sighed a bit as she spoke to her beloved while looking at the stars and the clear sky above them. The Wood Elf then spoke to her lover with a slightly sad eye, knowing already just how serious and stubborn her lover was when it involved doing the right thing in life. When they had returned and were told that he was being framed for the slaughter of the village of Ember, he vowed to clear his name despite the dangers, to bring justice to his name and the people who died.

He then had survived an attacked by the Circle Blades when he was to become a Squire when he was taken into the service of Sir Grayson to prevent him from being taken by Luskan for their mockery of a trial to be killed, they did so to end him permanently but he and Shandra foiled that attempt, for which after learning of it, she was grateful for Shandra's aide.

He showed that same stubbornness when he had to fight Lorne Starling in the arena after Torio had invoked the right to trial by combat, she remembered the time she pleaded with him to leave and run away from the fight, but he refused, he wanted to give justice to the people of Ember who were slaughtered just to frame him for their deaths. And the last time she saw this stubbornness was when he continued to fight the King of Shadows the last night they had been on the walls of his new home of Crossroad Keep.

"I know that I cannot convince you to stop, you never could anyway, this is not our world or our fight, yet I know that you would never turn your back in doing the right thing."

Darren nodded and hugged Elanee as he whispered to her.

"I know....maybe I can convince Lord Elrond to use a spell to send you back there..."

Elanee looked at him sternly and replied.

"And leave you behind? Never, I will not lose you Darren...I may not be in a full agreement with your desire to help them, but I will not abandon you now. I love you and I will never let you face this peril alone."

Darren smiled and he held Elanee's hands and spoke to her.

"Thank you...."

Elanee however spoke to him seriously as she looked at him once more with a look of pleading in her eyes.

"But promise me this, do not die for any reason, do not give up and most of all, do not leave me....if we survive, I want to be with you when we go back to Faerun soon and we can go to Crossroad Keep and live there for as long as you like."

Darren smiled and he spoke to Elanee...

"You want to live in Crossroad Keep?"

"Yes, does it bother you? I know it is not the same as in West Harbour, but...."

"Elanee, I could live in a hole in the earth, the swamps, the desert, a cave, even on a mountain top in snow and ice, as long as you are with me and by my side. If you want, I could have a grove planted in the lands for you to visit."

"You would do that...for me?"

"Do you need to even ask me that my beloved Druidess? I think with the finances of Crossroad Keep being the way it is, a grove of trees will not be a problem."

"Would you mind if I asked Elder Naevan to even create a park there to add some touch of nature to that drab place you might one day call home?"

Darren laughed and replied.

"You could put rose bushes on the walls if you want to, or even grow your own garden in the Keep, I'm sure Kana and Bevil might object, but I won't, as long as you are with me and happy Elanee, I will not worry about anything else. You once said I would make a fine parent Elanee, remember?"

"How can I forget? You suggested if it was an offer..."

"Well, I am asking it again and formally this time. Elanee, will you Druidess of the Circle of the Mere, marry me, live with me for as long as we live and raise our children?"

Elanee looked at Darren with surprise for a moment until she smiled and replied.

"Of course."

This made Darren feel happy as they held one another closely as they kissed once more.

They were unaware that Aragorn and Arwen were watching them and they heard everything that was spoken between the two lovers from Faerun, Arwen smiled as she spoke softly to her own beloved.

"They love each other deeply, don't they Aragorn?"

Aragorn nodded at that as he could see the love between Darren and Elanee, now he could see what Darren meant about him being in love with an elf woman as well. Like Arwen he had sensed something about the way Darren acted when speaking of Elanee, but he held his peace as he listened intently to what Darren had to say about his past and how he had arrived here.

"I know Arwen..."

"They show their love greatly, someday....I hope for the same with you."

Aragorn looked at Arwen and they walked in the moonlight in their own way as they spoke to one another in the elvish tongue until they spoke in the Common Tongue of Men as Aragorn ran his hand gently on the Evenstar, the pendant of Arwen.

"You said long ago, that you would bind yourself to me...forsaking the immortal life of your people."

Arwen nodded, knowing that what she would say would bind her life forever with Aragorn a choice that she had long made when they first set eyes upon one another when he had been singing the song of the Lay of Luthien and saw her for the first time.

"And to that I hold....I would spend one lifetime with you, than face all the ages of the world alone....I choose a mortal life."

Aragorn was shocked by this, knowing full well the implications of such a choice, long ago, Arwen's father Elrond and his brother Elros, his ancestor were given the power to chose their kindred as they were Half Elven, Elrond chose to be counted as one of the Elves, while Elros chose to be one with Men. And in doing so, the choice was given to Elrond's own children, and if Arwen made this choice, she would be bound to Middle Earth forever with him until the end, but she would forever be sundered from her kin.

This was the same choice made by her ancestor Luthien so long ago, and now she had just chosen this path.

He looked at the Evenstar in his hand, and felt his heart beat faster, both with joy that Arwen loved him and with sorrow and pain knowing that she chose to be with him.

"You cannot give me this...."

Arwen smiled at him and she looked all the more beautiful in the moonlight to the Ranger and heir to the throne of Gondor

"It is mine to give to whom I will, along with my heart....though I always knew you held it when I first saw you..."

With that both lovers kissed as tomorrow the representative of the races of Middle Earth were coming to Rivendell tomorrow to decide their course of action. But they were not going to come alone either.

--------

To be continued...

--------

Author's Notes:

Now this is finished, I can take a break from all the Lord of the Rings and Neverwinter Nights stuff for the time being and focus on my other stories, I never expected reviews to only that chapter so I guess I can't disappoint the readers now can I?

Anyway, as you can see, this story is taking into account the fact that the Mask of the Betrayer campaign didn't happen so you can bet Elanee is still here along with the rest of the company, minus of course Grobnar, The Blade Golem, Bishop (I hated that arrogant ass even if he was a cool archer.), and Qara.

Who will be with the representatives of the other races of Middle Earth?

Wait and see!


	3. Chapter 3

Lord of the Rings Neverwinter Nights

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Neverwinter Nights of Lord of the Rings, so don't ask me if I do.

Chapter 2

The Meetings…

( ): Thoughts

…

In Rivendell...

Darren looked out from the window as he was currently wearing the same clothes as before and wearing once more his Neverwinter Nine Tunic while Elanee was there before him sitting on the very same bench as he was, looking out into the land of Rivendell while leaning back onto him and resting her head on his left shoulder while Darren had one of his katana swords propped near him for easy use.

As foolish as it seemed for him to be carrying his weapon while in the safety of Rivendell, his training as a warrior and Weapon Master, as well as that of a Neverwinter Nine, and his experiences ever since leaving West Harbour had taught him the need to be ready for anything.

Elanee still wore the same dress as before as the Wood Elf Druidess rested on her lover's chest, relishing the time they had, in a few hours, they would have to take part of the soon to come Council meeting. The two were going to be there to listen in on the plan and Darren would naturally volunteer to be part of the team and naturally, she would come along as well, she knew that Darren would not have it any other way, though she wished that the others were around so they would be able to have backup.

She however had not seen any of the others and wondered if they were the only ones here in this land known as Middle Earth, if that was the case, then they were going to have to rely heavily on one another once more. She silently prayed to her Goddess and hoped that her prayer was heard and would be granted, she wanted to return home to Faerun and live out the rest of her life with Darren until the time came for them to leave their mortal forms and be in the realm of the dead.

(Enough gloom, I must focus on the here and now.)

Elanee sighed silently and relished the scent that was coming from her long time love and she was going to enjoy this moment for as long as possible, she then spoke to Darren to know what was on her lover's mind at this time. She hoped however that he was going to be in good spirits, there was no doubt that this was going to be a tough challenge for the two of them.

"Something is bothering you Darren?"

"Not really, just wondering about how we got here...if we saw the things we saw, would that mean that the others saw the same thing?"

"I suppose it does, but maybe they were on different places here in Middle Earth, that may be why we were not together, after all, I landed near Rivendell, and you were quite some distance away."

Darren nodded at that as he could see the point in Elanee's arguments. With that in mind, he moved to look at his elven love and kissed her gently on the forehead. They had agreed to not do what they had done that night in Crossroad Keep to make sure that they neither caused a ruckus nor offend the elves who lived here in Rivendell. It was not something that neither of liked to say the very least, but being able to hold one another was good enough for the time being. As they were done relaxing they decided to move through the city to see the rest before they would head off to the meeting hall where the other races of Middle Earth would be in order to discuss their next move in dealing with Sauron and his hordes of monsters.

It was then that they were passing a hall that another group appeared before them being escorted by a pair of armed elves and for some reason, the Weapon Master stopped as something seemed oddly familiar with the three being before him and as soon as he was able to look at their faces a bit more, he was utterly shocked, the shock faded and he smiled warmly as he spoke.

"By Tyr's hammer!"

Elanee turned to look and see just what was there in view that got her lover's attention, and when she looked, she also was utterly amazed by what she was looking at as well. Darren then shouted out loudly at the group...after all, whoever heard of a dwarf wearing the robes of a monk, a woman with a tail and horns, as well as a Paladin in Middle Earth.

"Khelgar! Neeshka! Casavir!"

The trio turned and both Khelgar and Neeshka shouted in greeting while Casavir smiled a bit more. The dwarf was the first to rush up to Darren and speak.

"By Tyr's right buttock! Darren, it's great to see ya alive!"

Khelgar raised his hand and gripped Darren's own extended hand, happy beyond belief that his close human friend and the youngster he owed much to was alive and there before him, along with knowing that this was no illusion before him, this was really the young man who had been his best friend, leader, and partner ever since meeting him in front of that inn in the Mere.

"Good to see you alive too old friend!"

Neeshka was more than willing to be open about her feelings as she rushed up and hugged Darren, it made the Tiefling utterly happy to know that her closest friend and the one person who showed her kindness, supported her in the hardest times, protected her from those who sought to harm her in any fashion, and freed her from a geas. She may have begun to see Darren as a brother figure, but it still felt good to be near him, he saved her life and stood by her side through thick and thin and to know he lived was more than enough to keep her going. She then moved away with a smile on her face.

"It's great to see you safe Darren!"

"I can tell, it's good to see you safe as well Neeshka."

The Tiefling stood aside as Casavir came forward and smiled a bit at Darren, Darren smiled right back and laughed a bit and so did Casavir as the Paladin shook hands with the Weapon Master. The Paladin was naturally happy to see a good friend alive and safe as well and he made that very clear as he spoke to Darren.

"It is good news to know that you live Darren, it seems that the Triad has new plans for us all."

Darren nodded and replied.

"You have no idea how true your words are Casavir. How did you get here?"

Khelgar grinned at that and replied.

"That's a story in itself lad!"

Flashback...

"Ow...where in the name of the Nine Hells are we this time?"

Khelgar shook his head and looked about, the dwarven monk hoped to see something that he would recognize in some fashion, but to his surprise, he found himself in the mountains of all places, but not in any mountain ranges he knew of. He shook his head to clear out any other feelings of nausea and more, vowing to give that elf wizard Sand a serious talking to when he found him. He looked about to see the others, but he found no one else with him. He felt that he was about to panic, but he calmed down a bit and relaxed himself, he reminded himself that his comrades were more than able to take care of themselves.

He checked and saw that the Hammer of Iron Fist was still with him, along with the Belt and the Gauntlets…he gave a sigh of relief at that, he doubted he could ever face Khulmar and Keros if he lost them all of a sudden, he then moved his head to get the creaks out of his neck and as soon as he felt himself become limber, he took a good breath of the cool mountain air and spoke afterwards to himself.

"It's a good thing I'm in the mountains instead of a swamp or desert, I'd hate that….but where Faerun am I?"

"You happen to be my Clan's mountain brother dwarf, turn and tell me who you are. You wear robes I do not know any dwarf wears."

Khelgar turned and spotted another dwarf, and he was soon joined by a number of other dwarves, but Khelgar could tell that none of them were of any Clan he knew of, and they were certainly not members of Clan Iron Fist. But the lead dwarf who carried a powerful looking double bladed axe as well as wearing armor of some sort spoke once more to him.

"I ask you again brother dwarf, state your name and your clan, unless you are some spy or rogue sent by some dark agent. I do not want to spill Dwarven blood for no reason, but if you do not answer…"

Khelgar could tell that the dwarf was serious and he carried himself like a noble warrior and that was enough to convince the dwarven monk to answer.

"I am Khelgar, Khelgar Ironfist of the Ironfist Clan. And I have no doubt you are hardly alone, tell you're fellow clansmen to stand in the light so I can see their faces."

Khelgar looked as he was soon being joined by several other dwarves and they were just as well armed as the one armed with the axe. The leader looked at Khelgar grimly and replied as he looked the Dwarven monk from head to toe again and there was no doubt in Khelgar's mind that things were going to be rather interesting.

" I have never heard of your clan at all Khelgar, if this is some sort of trick then it is a poor one."

"I assure you on my clan's name that this is no trick, and I am no liar. I am willing to defend my name as Ironfist from anyone who dares to say so. I do not want to fight you and your clan fellow Dwarf but if you do attack me, then I will fight."

Khelgar readied his fists once more while wearing both the Belt and Gauntlets of Ironfist and ready to defend himself if need be. However, it seemed that the leader of the Dwarves was in a better mood than he first thought as he lowered the axe.

"You are brave to say that even though you are out numbered Khelgar, and you speak without any lie in your eyes, nor to do I hear the lies of the Enemy. Very well then, you are not to be harmed while here in our mountain home, though you will have to tell me more of yourself."

Khelgar saw that the leader was telling the truth right enough and he relaxed himself as well.

"That's good to know, I guess I have a lot to tell anyway, but before anything, I have to know who you are brother dwarf, I have already told you my name so I feel I should at least know yours."

The dwarf placed down his axe with the handle on the ground and him leaning on the head between the blades and offering his other hand.

"I am Gimli, Son of Gloin."

Later, Gimli and Khelgar were now in one of the halls in the mountain and they were sharing some drink and food. Khelgar was happy to finally have something good to eat and drink and while he knew that drinking beer was not a good thing as a monk, he was still a Dwarf and Dwarves loved beer, something he was happy to see was present among these new Dwarves who he had joined. He also took the time to try some of the salted pork that Gimli offered him and found it to be very good to the stomach. This was also mixed with good bread, butter, cheese, and some honey along with a good side of roasted beef as well.

As soon as they had their fill, Khelgar spoke to Gimli along with a few other Dwarves about where he came from. He honestly replied that he was not a fully learned person as some of the things he had seen had flown into the face of logic as it were many times, but he was willing to tell them about himself. It was a long conversation as he spoke about Faerun and his Clan the Ironfists, his leaving the clan for a time though it was in the end a mistake on his part due to the troubles facing his people at the time.

He then spoke about the time he met none other than Darren Kell in that Mere Inn and how things kind of went from there. Meeting Elanee, Neeshka, and all the others and how he had managed to gain admittance into the order of Monks dedicated to Tyr after facing the three trials that were going to allow him to be a Monk. He told Gimli and the other Dwarves about the rest of his adventures and how he had finally recovered the three relics of his people and made his own mark in the world. That story ended with the battle in Crossroad Keep and the fight with the King of Shadows who had really been a heck of a test for him and the others.

"And that's all I remember before I came here."

Gimli looked at Khelgar and gave a slight nod as he took his mug and drank another round of beer before speaking.

"That's a very good story and the fact that you have shown great care in it and did not even slow down or look away tells me that you tell the truth. Now the question is, what are you planning to do now that you're Khelgar?"

"To be honest, I do not know, all I can hope for is that Darren and the others made it safely to the portal and back home…or are even here, I plan to try and find them when I can. I owe Darren a lot and even the others as well, we've been through a more battles side by side than I ever had when I left my clan…and for good causes too and I would rather be with them and make sure I do my part than stay away."

One Dwarf then commented on that.

"How can you be sure that your companions are even here, this elven wizard you called Sand certainly did not seem to know how to use magic that well if he bungled the spell."

Another commented as well.

"Aye, never trust elves at all, only thing you'll be getting from them is nothing but trouble."

Khelgar said nothing for now as he was still trying to get some idea of being in a world where there was nothing that he was familiar with. He decided that maybe he should ask what was the history of the Dwarves who lived in this world, that way he could figure out what their lives were like, and if he did find a way back to Faerun, he would have something to talk about But before things could go any further, another Dwarf armed with a short sword and a small shield rushed to them and spoke.

"There are others in the Mountain!"

The other Dwarves moved out and Khelgar moved alongside them to find out who else was there, and this time, he was carrying the Hammer of the Ironfist in his hands. Even though he was now a Monk and his abilities were more than enough in unarmed combat, he was still a Dwarf and felt comfortable using a weapon in hand. The Ironfist Dwarf arrived and to his surprise, he spotted the dwarves surrounding two new figures…and both of them he recognized.

"Casavir? Neeshka?"

…

End of Flashback…

"And after explaining to Gimli and his fellow Dwarves who they were, and convincing them not to get hostile, we decided to join with Gimli and his companions as they were heading to this place called Rivendell. And as soon as we got here, I heard that there were some humans here, I prayed a bit to Tyr and here we are."

Darren and Elanee were silent as Khelgar finished his story and soon they began to feel something in them, they were back together again with at least three of their friends. And while there were still others missing, there was no doubt now in their minds that the others might very be there though there was still the question on where they were.

The young man got his answer when a certain voice spoke out.

"Well now, it's nice to see that Khelgar has not lost that booming voice of his, and for once I am actually pleased to hear it."

Darren turned and was shocked even more as he spotted two more familiar faces, one of whom was a certain Moon Elf who had a tongue which was as sharp as a sword and had a personality that his uncle Duncan easily called like ground and coarse sand. But he trusted this one as much as the others; after all, it was Sand who had helped in freeing him from a very dire fate back in Luskan. And despite his antics had proven an invaluable aid in many ventures soon after.

The next face was none other than an ally who despite being somewhat cryptic as ever, had been helpful in healing him and the others of wounds that by all rights would have killed them. She had been one of the most unique beings he had met though it had been some time since he had ever dealt with anyone like Zhajaeve. And she had been the one who had aided them in the final months before the last battle with the King of Shadows and had fought together with them to finally bring down all of the threats before them all.

"Sand! Zhjaeve!"

The others turned to see the two and they could not help but feel some measure of relief to see that two more of their comrades were now alongside them. Darren shook Sand's hand as the wizard spoke out in some measure of relief while wielding his chosen weapon, the Captain's Spear which had been able to help him more than once in battle when magic was not enough.

"Sand…it's good to see you."

"I would say the very same, I had thought that after waking up in that very dreary forest, and facing those spiders I would be no longer among the living."

The female Gith'zerai Cleric nodded in agreement with that as she spoke.

"Know that I am also pleased to see you alive as well Kalack'Cha. It seems that fate has been favorable to us and we are still alive and here. Though I have no doubts that you have questions on how I and Sand are still alive."

Darren nodded at that.

"You're right on that regard, seeing you and Sand was worth every moment of it, but where is Ammon?"

The Moon Elf gave a serious look and Zhajaeve replied.

"Know that we had lost sight of him, however I had sensed a great deal of infernal magic that came in, no doubt the ones who Ammon had made pacts with have unfinished business with him."

Darren was not pleased by that, despite his personal distaste for warlocks, Ammon was a powerful ally and had his reasons. He had however managed to give Ammon a sense of forgiveness when they came to Shandra's farm and he recovered her locket. He had no doubt that Ammon was not going to be easily bowed even when in the realm of the Nine Hells, but he hoped that he would not be lost just yet.

'I take it you were able to arrive here from another group like Khelgar and the others?"

Zhjaeve nodded.

"Know that you are correct, when Sand and I came through the portals, we landed in a forest filled by foul creatures and had fought them off. But they outnumbered us and only the timely arrival of a band of elves who I feel are natives of this world prevented us from being slain outright. They slew the spiders and then mentioned that they were on their way here to this place called Rivendell. The land that called him was known by other tongues as Mirkwood and it had a rather ominous feel to the place, which explains the native elves' skills."

Sand nodded and replied.

"Actually, one of those said Elves tried to run out Gith'zerai friend here in the chest with a spear, mistaking her for an Orc of all things, but I managed to talk him down from it."

"And know that I thank you for that…though I have my doubts of your actions being led by altruism entirely Sand."

"There's some truth there, but not much, after all, you managed to save my skin more than once so I do not have a reason to be hostile. The big question in my mind is what we are going to do right now, we're in a new world entirely and while I can attempt to open a portal back to Faerun, I doubt it will be that easy, teleporting to new realms is not exactly a specialty of mine and while we have the page I took from the book still, making a portal to Faerun is going to take a lot of luck and a great deal of magic to boot."

Casavir nodded in agreement as well.

"I agree with Sand on this one, but I suspect that we were sent here for a reason, I saw a series of visions that spoke heavily of this world's past…what about you Darren?"

The young man nodded in agreement.

"I did, and so did Elanee."

The Wood Elf nodded and it was here that the others spoke as well with Khelgar being the first.

"I saw the same thing as well before I woke up in the mountain."

Neeshka was next.

"I did so too, and I heard that same elvish voice as well."

Sand also nodded.

"I did as well, and that voice belongs to someone of great power. I have no idea who can have this power in a world we know next to nothing about, but there is no doubt in my mind that there was a great deal of power behind it."

Darren then told the others what else he saw and what he learned of this Sauron and the Ring of Power that he so coveted. Needless to say, they were not very pleased with the news and even more so when they learned that Sauron might very well covet their own world. They already had their fair share of evil men and women of various races in their realm, along with the Dark Gods, the last thing they wanted was a new force seeking to claim their world.

Casavir then spoke.

"Then we should stop them here and now, if they invade Faerun and Neverwinter the way it is now after our battle with the King of Shadows, then the realms and all of the people there are all in danger."

Sand shook his head a bit and replied.

"I don't want to sound like a pain in the backside, but you all do realize that we are few in number and this, Sauron has allies this Saruman and his forces as well as his own? We also know next to nothing about him and this ring he so loves. We may have beaten the King of Shadows but only barely with the Rituals we have as well as Ammon's, we do not have him here and even if he was here, I doubt that the magic will be that effective. And let's not forget that the Silver Sword of Gith we have might not work against this Sauron since we have NO idea what he is to begin with."

Darren nodded in agreement.

"You have a point there Sand, but we have to do something either way, even if we avoid fighting him, without any way to return home safely, we're stuck here so he and his forces will find us eventually. And even if we could make a portal, there is no promise that it will take us home in one piece or even if we land at home at all to begin with. We will have to rely on the aid of the people here to help us so in turn we have to help them. And if we do stop Sauron and his allies, then they will not become a threat to out own homes as well. There is one thing that we can be thankful for, Sauron's not able to take full form and gain the full extent of his powers without the Ring. Elrond told me that he has placed a vast portion of his powers into it to the point that his life force is tied to the Ring, almost in the same way a Lich would rely on a phylactery to house it's soul, and just like destroying the phylactery will kill the Lich forever, I feel that it might be the same here. Destroying the Ring could very well destroy Sauron and without him, his forces would fall apart as well as those who are his allies and they could turn on each other."

The Gith'zerai then spoke.

"Know that it will not be easy, his forces will fight anyone to get this One Ring back and we run the risk of being corrupted by the Ring as well. And there is no doubt that the Ring will not be easily destroyed, something like that may no doubt have strong enchantments to keep it from harm."

Elanee agreed with that and then she heard something as well.

"I think they are beginning the Council meeting, we should got there and see just what are the plans of the people of this Middle Earth. This is a matter involves all of them and now includes us as well."

Darren nodded as they all moved as one to see just what was going to be the results of this meeting.

…

In the Hall…

They had arrived just as the Council was well underway and already there were the Dwarves, the Elves, and the Humans. Naturally there was Gandalf and Elrond along with Frodo. Darren and the others could tell that the three delegations were deep in focus on this meeting and paying little attention to them for now so he decided to wait and see how this was going to turn out. It was also here that Elrond turned to speak to Frodo and while there was some distance, he and the others of his group were able to hear them well enough.

"Place the ring there Frodo."

The young Halfling did just that and soon moved his hand away slowly to reveal the One Ring of Power. And as soon as he sat down, the effect of the ring was immediate as the people there looked at it, only Elrond looked at it with wary disgust, revealing his own bitter history with the ring itself and what he had seen it do to good men.

Darren glared at the ring and briefly held the symbol of the House of the Triad mentally saying prayers to the three Gods who made the Triad. He was not able to sense magical power, but the aura of that plain looking but evil ring was easy for him to sense.

"That ring feels wrong Darren, I can feel the evil from it…"

The young Weapon Master felt Elanee's grip tighten on his hand and he looked to see the look of worry and distrust in the beautiful Wood Elf's face. Elanee only showed that when dealing with the infernal beings as she felt them through her Druidic senses. He held Elanee's hand and replied.

"I feel it too, don't worry, I am not going to let that thing be anywhere near us."

He sensed that he and Elanee were not the only ones.

"By Tymora…that thing feels like it came from the Nine Hells."

Neeshka looked at the ring and for a moment Darren hoped that his Tiefling' friend's infernal blood was not being affected by that thing's power.

"Neeshka…don't look at it."

Neeshka turned and shook her head.

"Don't worry, after I fought that geass that Black Garius placed on me, I am not going to look at that thing for too long.

"By Tyr's Hammer…I can feel the evil from it."

Casavir spoke and Darren could see that his Paladin friend was holding his War hammer a bit tighter than before and held his shield at the ready. That was to be expected as all Paladins could sense evil due to their powers as well as their training. He turned to see how the others were handling it as he could tell that it had an effect on all in the hall.

"By Tyr's right Buttock…that thing feels…strange."

Khelgar looked at the ring as well but his eyes were narrowed and from what he had learned of Monks in his lessons with his foster uncle, Monks could sense things as well, especially those of a divine or infernal nature despite not being able to use magic. Even though he started at a later part of his life, Khelgar was able to develop the senses used by Monks and the skills as well which had saved his life more than once in their adventures.

"Are you all right?"

"Aye, I don't trust that infernal thing, I can feel it's power faintly and I don't like it one bit."

"Good to know…Zhjaeve? Sand?"

The Moon Elf was the first to speak as he too looked at the ring with some level of wariness.

"I can feel the magic as well, it's very strong and the way it was forged into that ring of metal is impressive…but I do not trust it at all. After hearing how that thing corrupts all it touched, I do not want anything to do with it. I can bet those mages in Luskan would have wanted it the very second they sensed it though."

"Know that I too have little love for that thing, the simple beauty it's outer face has only masks the malevolence that it's maker has fused into it. Granted that it can grant great power, but it is the kind of power that makes one a slave to it…and my people and I will never agree to ever being a slave to it or anything else."

That was good in the mind of Darren, many of his companions did not trust the ring and for good reason as they had dealt with things of a magical and evil nature before, even he had as well so he had no love for those things that can corrupt others. This could very well be the shield that he and the others would need to resist the power of the ring itself for as long as possible, but he had his doubts that it was going to be that simple as he had no idea how the others in this very hall who were natives of this world would react on sight of the ring.

…

He saw that the Elves recoiled slightly at the sight of it, with only Elrond being the sole exception among the rest. No doubt due to the fact that he had seen the power of the ring first hand and the corruption it brought. That and his power as one of the elven leaders added to that as well.

He could see the same for the Dwarves though he had a feeling that they too would be affected by the ring in a more subtle fashion. The one Khelgar pointed as Gimli himself looked at the ring in wariness and he as well as the other Dwarves clutched their respective axes a bit more than they were willing to show.

The men themselves were not too happy, it was no problem for him to see Aragorn's reaction to the ring, given the history that his family, or rather his ancestor had with the thing. The other men from the city of Gondor known as Minas Tirith were also calling it the Doom of Men or Isildur's Bane.

However, one of them spoke in a tone that was quick to alert the Weapon Master, this man was a very well built fellow and carried himself as a warrior with years of experience, and wore armor and clothing that one would expect from a member of a noble house.

"It is a gift…"

The man stood up and began to speak to the others who were in the hall, imploring them.

"A gift to the foes of Morder, why not use this ring against it's maker?"

Casavir shook his head at this and spoke to Darren.

"He is not thinking this through, that Ring is not going to aid him or anyone else in this hall, especially to kill it's own master, it will corrupt them all and lead them to death and slavery."

Neeshka replied to that.

"For once I agree with our Paladin friend here, I do not like that thing, and coming from one descended from the Burning Hells, that's a lot."

Darren did not have to look at the others of his group to know that they too were not keen on looking at the ring and were less than happy with the man's declaration and intentions. They were not the only ones that he could see as Elrond and Gandalf along with Aragorn were not in an approving state of mind as the man spoke again.

"It is by the by the blood of our people of Gondor that your lands have been kept safe for generations, give us the weapon of the Enemy and allow us to strike at him once and for all!"

Aragorn then spoke seriously about this.

"You can't wield it. None of us can, the One Ring answers to Sauron alone, it has no other master."

Darren knew that to be true and the same could be said for the others, but the man before the Council now faced Aragorn and spoke in a scornful and distrusting fashion.

"And what would a Ranger know of this matter?"

Darren did not like this and was about to step forward, but he was beaten back when one of the Elves, the same one described by Sand as Legolas stood up and spoke seriously, and defensively as well.

"This is no mere Ranger you are speaking to."

The man was curious what Legolas was talking about and the same could be said for the others in Darren's party, with the exception of Darren himself along with Elanee. The Weapon Master knew that this was going to make things for Aragorn rather uncomfortable due to his ancestor's mistake.

Legolas then spoke seriously to the man to explain his words concerning Aragorn.

"He is Aragorn, Son of Arathorn."

That made Aragorn sigh a bit though no one else but the most keen eyed person could see it, and the reactions of the men of Middle Earth to the news were understandable, some looked on in shock at Aragorn, while the man who had question Aragorn's words from before looked at him in surprise.

"Aragorn? This man is…Isildur's Heir?"

Legolas might not have nodded at all, but his next statement made what he felt about the matter concerning Aragorn all the more clear.

"And Heir to the Throne of Gondor, you owe him your allegiance."

Aragorn then spoke as soon as the statement left his now obvious elven friend's mouth, showing once more to Darren his personal distrust in his heritage though he spoke in Elven to Legolas.

"That is enough Legolas."

The elf relented out of respect for Aragorn, but the man did not and gave Aragorn an unimpressed look and spoke in a rather unfriendly tone as he walked back to his seat.

"Gondor has no King, Gondor needs no King."

Aragorn said nothing and it was here that Sand spoke to Darren.

"I think that I need some clarification on the subject of what just happened before me here."

"That can wait Sand, let's see what happens next."

…

Darren and the others did not have to wait for very long as Gandalf spoke.

"Aragorn is correct in this matter, the Ring of Sauron will not obey anyone else but Sauron himself, none of us here have the power needed to use it."

Elrond then spoke though the man who had spoken ill of Aragorn shook his head and resignation as well as disbelief at the lost chance to use the Ring for what he felt was the best way to end Sauron.

"Then there is only one choice…the Ring must be destroyed."

It was here that one of the Dwarves, Gimli replied.

"Then what are we waiting for?"

Gimli got off his chair and quickly hefted his axe to strike at the ring, Darren saw that and so did Khelgar and the two long time friends knew that this was not a wise move.

"Don't do it!"

"No Gimli! Don't do it!"

The warnings came too late as the Dwarf warrior's axe smashed on the ring, but in that moment, the powerful enchantments of the One Ring reacted to the threat, casually unleashing a blast of power that instantly shattered the dwarf forged axe to shreds, thankfully none of the shards of shattered metal hit anyone but the Dwarf in question was shocked and sent flying back with the now useless shaft of his axe flying away from his hands. He handed to the ground in a thud and coughed out in shock and surprise.

Darren saw Frodo recoil and could tell that somehow the Ring sent some sort of…message into the young Halfling's mind, and no doubt the message was anything but friendly. The others saw that as well and remained silent as they looked at the ring. It suffered not a mark from the attack, something that spoke heavily of the power that was used in it's forging.

Gimli looked at his ruined axe in shock and a degree of Dwarven horror as he had not expected something that looked so simple and small could withstand the blow of a dwarf forged axe as if it was nothing. He turned to Elrond's voice as the Elven ruler of Rivendell spoke to them after the incident, he was the only one who remained calm while all the others were shocked, with Gandalf also looking intently at Frodo to see if the young Halfling was all right from the shock.

"The Ring cannot be destroyed by your weapon or strength, Gimli Son of Gloin, or by any amount of strength or power anyone in this hall can call upon. It can only be destroyed in the very place where it was forged. Only by casting it back into the chasm from whence it came, into the fiery heart of Mount Doom itself in Mordor. Only there can the Ring be undone, one of you must do this…for all our sakes."

The implications of that mission had stunned the council and all in it, and for good reason as Darren knew already from his time in seeing that vision. He had seen how many Men and Elves had died in the battle that lasted for what would be best assessed as years and the loss of the Elven High King and Isildur's father himself. And he knew full well that what Elrond said was true. Elanee then spoke as well with worry in her voice.

"The only way to destroy that ring of evil is…is in the very heart of the enemy's kingdom…that sounds like what we did when we attacked the King of Shadows in it's own lair."

"Yes, and we barely escaped afterwards…and not without loss either."

He recalled the loss of Grobnar, the Blade Golem, Qara, and possibly even Ammon Jerro as well, they had been lost in their escape though the first two were lost in the said escape, and Qara was killed by them when she sided with Black Garius and Ammon was taken away by the demons that he had made pacts with.

He had no doubt that there was going to be a great deal of dissent on that idea and he was right as the very same man who had been in a confrontation with Aragorn and the elf named Legolas.

"One does not simply walk into Mordor, the Black Gates are guarded by more than just Orcs, there is an evil there that does not sleep, the land is but ash and dust, the water there is foul beyond mortal measure and is death to all to drink it, the very air you breath is a poisonous fume. Not with ten thousand men can you do this…a lone man has no hope of doing it…this is folly."

Legolas then replied heatedly as he stood up.

"Have you heard nothing of that Lord Elrond has said? The Ring must be destroyed!"

Gimli was soon going to join the argument.

"And I suppose you think that you can be the one to do it?"

That situation soon resulted in a word war between the Elves, the Dwarves, and the Humans who were there, Aragorn was in this argument as well, even Gandalf himself was in it though he was trying to dissuade the group from facing each other and fighting the wrong people. It was not long before the only one who was NOT joining the proverbial word melee was Elrond himself, as he remained calm and focused. But Darren and Elanee could tell that the Elf lord was doing his best to keep himself calm.

However he could see Frodo reacting to the Ring, as the Halfling seemed to gripped in a vision as he gazed at the ring, he had no idea what was the ring showing to the young and rather good natured Halfling, but whatever it was, it was hardly something that would be pleasant. He had NO idea what it was as he had never touched or wore the ring, but he knew well enough how it felt to have a tie to something of great power, namely when he still had the shard of the Sword of Gith in his chest area. But he also noted that as he looked at the arguing group before him, Frodo took on a determined look and then spoke out.

"I will take it!"

The voice of the young Halfling was nearly lost to the din of the people arguing before him, and even he and the others of his group could not hear of it. But as Frodo repeated it, he saw the crowd begin to calm down and look at Frodo. The young Halfling looked rather small as he was being stared at by all the people in the room but he was determined and wanted to show that his words were not spoken out of ignorance of the peril.

"I will take it…I will take the ring to Mordor."

Gandalf looked at Frodo, he face a mix of respect and worry, no doubt due to the fact that he had a very close friendship with Frodo and Bilbo, and he knew just what Frodo's decision will entail. Frodo knew this as well as he spoke out to the people assembled there.

"But I do not know the way."

The wizard walked over to Frodo and replied.

"Then I will guide you there Frodo, and help you bear this burden for as long as it is yours to carry."

Gandalf was not the only one to speak as Aragorn moved forward. And he too swore a promise to Frodo, showing that despite his own concerns and worries, he knew that this was important and he had to be a part of it.

"If by my life or death, I can protect you… I will. You have my sword."

Aragorn then stood next to Gandalf and Frodo, showing that he will keep true to that promise and stand with them to the end.

He was not alone as Legolas soon spoke as well.

"And you have my bow."

The Elf soon joined Aragorn and Gandalf but he was not alone as Gimli spoke next, no doubt to represent his people and keep an eye on the Elven representative who he still had trust issues towards.

"And my axe."

The man who had been there arguing that this mission was madness looked at Frodo and was serious about his words when he spoke.

"You carry the fates of us all little one."

He turned and looked at the assembled faces before him and focused on Elrond and Gandalf the most before speaking.

"If this is the will of the Council, then Gondor shall see it done."

It was at this point that a new voice came into the scene.

"I do not thing you are going on alone just yet."

…

It was here that the others in the hall saw Darren and his companions though none have noticed them with the marked exceptions of Elrond and Gandalf who had said nothing all the while.

Darren decided that now was the time as he stepped forward, his steps were deliberate as he reached for his katana while coughing out a bit to get Frodo's attention. The others turned and Elrond as well as Gandalf looked at him as he now had his drawn katana in hand as he was now before Frodo. The others looked at the young man and wondered who he was but it was when the Elves and Dwarves saw the others who followed Darren that they recognized those they met respectively and quickly guessed this must be the man that the others had spoken highly of.

The man then spoke to them in a very curious but worried tone.

"Who are you?"

"I am Darren Kell from Faerun, a land…very far from here, and these if you care to know are my companions. Men and women who have been beside me for a very long time and whom I have come to trust with my life and my future. We are here under the protection of Lord Elrond and also are under Gandalf's watch. And you are?"

"I am Boromir, High Captain of Gondor's forces and older son of Denethor, current Steward of Gondor."

Boromir then turned to face Gandalf and Elrond and spoke to them.

"Does he speak truth Lord Elrond, Mithrandir?"

Gandalf nodded.

"That he does Boromir, Son of Denethor, Darren Kell is a warrior of his land of great repute and has right to speak on his people and nation's behalf in this Council."

Elrond nodded and then spoke.

"They too have a stake in this as do we all in his Council, let them speak."

Darren bowed in respect to Lord Elrond and looked at Frodo.

"You've got a lot of bravery young Frodo to take this burden…you hold the fates of all of Middle Earth and no doubt you will face death in the eye more than any of your people would like in their life times. Are you ready for such a burden even though you have no obligation to take it?"

Frodo looked at Darren and saw that he was dead serious in his question and replied.

"I am, I am willing to do this to make sure that this world stays safe."

Darren said nothing at first and then did something as he took out the scabbard of his weapon and replied with a smile, a sad smile at that.

"You remind me of myself when I took the shards of the Silver Sword of Gith from my home village of the Mere to protect it, even if unlike you I had no idea what fate had in store for me. I can respect that…here."

He sheathed the katana and handed it to Frodo who took the weapon, and to shock of the people around him with the exception of his friends, Elrond, and Gandalf he summoned the Silver Sword of Gith to his hand. The weapon appeared in all it's glory and was enough to surprise all before it as Darren placed the weapon aside and spoke.

"I am not much for speeches Frodo, so I will make this simple. You're quest is more important than you know for my friends and I have a stake in this mission to Mordor. If this ring is not destroyed then Sauron too would try to claim our world as much as Middle Earth as well when he is done. I will not let that happen and as such, I too will join you on this quest. On that sword I have forged with my own hands that I have given to you and on the honor of the Neverwinter Nine which I am part of I too will defend you with all that I am until this quest is over. The only question is, will you accept my help and that of the rest of my companions?"

Frodo looked at the others and Darren and after a moment or two, remembering how he had aided him and the others from before nodded.

"I accept your help."

Darren smiled and moved aside as Elanee arrived, the beautiful Wood Elf smiled at Frodo and spoke.

"I can sense a great deal of bravery in you Frodo, and your quest is a noble one, if Darren is dead set on your quest, then I too shall join you. He and I have been through much and to finally be together is a worthy thing for me. I know him and if he believes in this, then I will believe him as well, I will use all my skill and powers to help you in this trial Frodo, I give that pledge as a Druid of the Mere."

She moved aside and Khelgar walked over and gave the young Halfling a smile and spoke.

"You've got a lot of guts taking this path there lad, more than most youngsters I know with the exception of my long time friend the Knight Captain here, you would have been a great Ironfist clansman had you been born on Faerun. I will be more than happy to help you in this quest, besides, if there's a chance to shove a fist into an enemy, who am I to resist? I'm ready to show those Orcs and this Sauron just why my clan is called the Ironfists."

Khelgar moved aside as Neeshka was next, many people were shocked at the sight of Neeshka but she did not mind and she spoke to Frodo.

"To be totally honest with you, you're either brave, insane, or both to take this quest. Most people I know would have dropped this and walked away, but not you, and that has a good quality about it. You remind me of Darren actually, though he's a mold above the rest in my eyes, he stood up for me and was kind to me even if he didn't have to so I trust him with everything, even my life. So if he is going on this quest, then so am I. I'll watch your back and make sure that the only back stabbing I will do will be on the enemies you have."

Neeshka moved aside as Casavir was the next one to speak.

"You carry a great burden ahead of you young Frodo, a burden than few would take willingly and that is bravery beyond measure. You would have been a worthy Paladin had you been among us in Faerun though you have a gentle heart. I have fought for many good causes and good people before I joined with Darren to fight our own enemies. This quest is just and thus as a Paladin, I will be willing to assist you in this, my magic, my shield, and hammer will be with you in this battle as well as me."

Casavir stood aside as Sand was next.

"Well, it looks like I am going to be in another fine mess, no doubt there will be more danger than I like to face and more than my fair share of close calls. I can admire your desire to help others, but not to the point of madness. But then again, I took a very painful choice long ago and met a good friend who has proven himself to be a very intelligent man and has watched my back and kept me alive for a long time. If this is the only way to go back to out home then so be it, I will help you with whatever I can manage, but don't expect me to hold your hand. And if I have to, I hope that it's washed."

Sand moved to join the others as Zhjaeve walked over to them, the others with the exception of Darren and his group who knew the Gith'zerai very well were looking at her in wariness as she was alien to them as Neeshka was. She however ignored it and replied to Frodo.

"Know that your path is a path that I do not know nor have I ever recorded young Halfling, but I do know that your path is a very difficult and demanding one, one that will push you to the very brink of your mental limits. Your willingness to face the peril is indeed a respectable goal, as it is a dangerous one, and you will need many allies. Though this path is not intended for me to walk, it is a path that the Kalach'Cha has chosen to walk, and where he walks, I am bound by my oath to do so. My powers and skills as a member of the Gith'zerai shall aid you to whatever end this quest may bring."

With that, Darren and his companions now joined Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas, the young man named Boromir, and Gandalf himself. Elrond could not help but give a slight smile as he felt that with the new allies from another world, this mission may very well succeed. He recalled how long ago his ancestors by his mother's side, Beren and Luthien had braved the very heart of the lair of Sauron's old master to gain a holy jewel, and now it seemed that in some way, the same thing was going to happen again. But this time, it was going to be for the fate of all of Middle Earth, the very same one that he and his people would one day leave behind.

(Maybe there is indeed hope that Sauron will be defeated…slim as it may be.)

…

It was here that Sam himself decided to get into the act as he shouted and moved forward and joined Frodo.

"Mr. Frodo is going nowhere without me!"

Elrond gave a slight smile at this as he had already known just what was Samwise doing, sneaking about and trying to avoid being seen while listening in on what was going on. Normally he would have had the Halfling removed but he sensed that he too will play his own part, he had already begun to play that part the very moment he had been caught eavesdropping by Gandalf back in the Shire.

"No , he most certainly will not, we will not have you taken from his side even though he has been summoned to a Council Meeting and you have not."

Sam realized how close he had come to committing a mistake that would have been rather offensive to the people there, but he did not bother with that for now. What's done is done, all he wanted was to be alongside Mister Frodo and help him carry the great burden before him. And even if it meant going to Mordor, the one place no one in his or her right mind would go or even look at, then he was going.

Darren then replied to that with a smirk.

"You have a good man by your side Frodo, keep him close."

Frodo had no time to answer as Merry and Pippin arrived as well and they too were eager to join, and while their respective reasons were sounding rather odd and somewhat utterly ridiculous, they were not dissuaded to leave at all and after a while, Elrond looked at the gathered company and spoke to them. He felt his hopes rise a bit more and he could only pray that it would finally come to pass that the one chance Isildur had cast aside would finally be taken and evil would finally be defeated and banished from Middle Earth forever.

"Nine companions, all from Middle Earth, and seven companions from another world and dedicated to the defense of their own realm. This will no doubt be a difficult test and a noble one as well. From this day forth, this shall be known as the Fellowship of the Ring."

Pippin smiled and then spoke.

"Right, where are we going again?"

Khelgar laughed and replied.

"You'll find out soon enough young Pippin. And let's hope that the intelligence you spoke of is going to be still there when it is all over."

…

To be continued…

…

Author's Notes:

There we go, a new chapter after a VERY long time, sorry for the delay but with so many things going on in real life and in my imagination, I did not have the time to make a new chapter for this and for that I apologize yet again. Now I need to take care of the rest of the stories that I plan to update and make sure that I keep myself to my word.

I'll admit that I am rather rusty and a lot of time has passed since I worked on this story, nearly a year and a half as well so I am no doubt have a LOT to catch up on. But at least this is a start in the right direction and while this is a bit different from the movies that it was based on, it was on my own choice as following the movies too closely would be too predictable.

Now on the topic of this chapter, I have decided to not include the Warlock Ammon Jerro, no he is not dead, he is back in the Nine Hells due to the pacts he had made. You have remember that the guy had made a large number of pacts with the infernal powers and therefore he has to go there under contract and to pay for what he has done and the choices he made. The only difference in him is that he is not going to be there for long.

He will be present but only on the other side of the fence, or rather in between worlds as itr were, let me figure it out when I get the chance all right?

On the next chapter, we now have the gang working together with the force that makes the Fellowship of the Ring, and how will they be able to help the group of Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Boromir, Gandalf, Frodo, Samwise, Merry, and Pippin in the travels ahead? That you will have to wait and see, and along the way, you will get to see the group in action alongside the Fellowship, namely when we go to the Tomb of Balin, but before we get there, we have the scene on how the group set out from Rivendell and also how the original group of the Lord of the Rings will deal with several new allies in a fight to not only go home but to save another realm and also defend their own. As for the Neverwinter group, they too will have to adapt to this new world and use all that they have to survive and aid in the destruction of the Ring.

This day just got interesting.

I will now be working on my other works and hopefully finish a few of them before the arrival of the full on assault of the rainy season.

See you soon!


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